It seems natural to believe every bit of land and every structure across the county is under somebody’s ownership.

Tuesday, October 23, 2001

It seems natural to believe every bit of land and every structure across the county is under somebody’s ownership. But a dam at the outlet of Albert Lea Lake seems to be an exception: Nobody claims to own it.

The ambiguity of the ownership has been stalling the restoration of the 89-year-old dam for years. The county aims to get things straight before the neglected structure causes more damage to the basin and lake.

The Albert Lea Lake Dam is at the south end of the lake where the water pours into the Shell Rock River. A 57-foot-long spillway holds the lake about two feet higher than the river surface. The dam has been abandoned for a long time and is too obsolete to maintain the water level of the lake.

The current dam was constructed by the county in 1922 under a County Road 19 bridge. The original structure had existed since late last century. There was no requirement to obtain a permit from the state to build a dam in those days.

In the late 1950s the county road was relocated toward the lake. Then the county board passed a resolution in 1958 to hand over the portion of the road including the bridge to a private landowner.

The ownership problem came up as early as the 1960s, when the county started arguing the overhaul of the dam.

State statute stipulates that the owner of a dam constructed before the state regulation was applied must maintain and operate the dam in a manner approved and prescribed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The state law also demands the state to take over the control of an abandoned dam owned by a private entity.

The county considered either the state or the landowner was to be responsible for the restoration.

But in the state’s opinion, the county retains the possession. A document issued by State Assistant Attorney General Matthew B. Seltzer in August 1999 said, &uot;All of the facts that have been presented to me indicate that the dam was built by a public agency and it continues to be owned and controlled by that public agency.&uot;

The ownership argument stems from the problem of money and the question of who is going to pay for the restoration.

The estimated cost for the project is $240,000 according to the DNR.

If the state owned the dam, the DNR would have full responsibility for funding. If it were a landowner’s possession, the landowner would have to fix the dam with financial support from the state. If the county were the owner, an available grant from DNR would cover only half of the cost and the county would have to raise at least $120,000 from local property taxes.

The restoration seems urgent.

If the dam were to collapse, the water would infringe the vast crop land in the Shell Rock River basin. The shallow depth of Albert Lea Lake is another concern. If the water would escape from the outlet, most of the lake bottom would come up to the surface.

The old dam also threatens the ecosystem of the lake.

Randy Tuchtenhagen, of county environmental services, points out the obsolete structure does not equip a system to control the water level of the lake. The drastic frustration of the water level affects water quality and living environment for aquatic animals.

The shape of the spillway allows &uot;rough fish&uot; such as carps to jump over the two-foot rise from the river to the lake. Rough fish monopolize the water vegetation and scare other fish. They also wind up the mud and worsens the water quality, according to Tuchtenhagen.

The county board has asked County Attorney Craig Nelson to conduct a survey to identify the legal owner of the dam and report it to the county board.