There is a dam/weir blocking the outlet to Lake Nokomis. This has caused the water table in the neighborhood to rise. The dam/weir was built in 1964. South Minneapolis mythology has it that Vice President Humphrey had the U.S. Corps of Engineers build the dam/weir to hold back the water coming out of Lake Nokomis and Lake Hiawatha in order to create a spectacular waterfall that would give President Johnson a thrill when he visited Minnehaha Falls.
No one can give a sensible answer as to why we would want a dam/weir built to hold back 4 feet of water and flood the neighborhood?
Let’s take down the dam/weir and see what a natural ecosystem develops rather than continuing to artificially create a swamp.
The Park Board and the City Council must ask the U.S. Corps of Engineers to come back here and take back their dam/weir.
