Flood ravaged Rapidan Dam to be removed in Blue Earth County

The aging Rapidan Dam west of Mankato that was ravaged by flood waters in late June will be removed following a decision made Tuesday by the Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners.

In addition to removing the dam, Commissioners voted to remove and replace the nearby County Road 9 Bridge.

"You have a dam that was built in 1910 and a bridge that's very close to it, they're really very much connected," said board chair, Kevin Paap. "The dam directly effects the current and future conditions of the bridge. Bridge design is really effected and determined by what we do with the dam. Yes, we made a bridge decision, but we also needed to make decision with the dam as we move forward with bridge design."

Blue Earth River water levels rose rapidly in June and early July after heavy rain, eroding the river's west bank near the dam, which then partially failed. The eroding shoreline caused a house to fall into the river and a business was also destroyed .

"We all know nothing in government goes quickly sometimes, but fortunately this bridge will qualify, not only the removal of the existing bridge and replacement of the bridge, for emergency bridge funds from the federal government," Paap said. "That will help speed up the process. We'll still have to wait for FEMA to analyze and study those costs to get it back into pre-disaster condition so we have a baseline to work with FEMA dollars."

Paap has lived and farmed in Blue Earth County his entire life. He vividly remembers riding the school bus over the dam and says the past few months leading up to Tuesday's decision have been emotional for many.

"We've got a lot citizens that are attached to the dam and its history. We want to make sure we can do everything we can, but quite frankly, the safety is our number one concern. As we've looked through everything and made those decisions, there was too high a risk not to replace that bridge."

A 2021 study commissioned by Blue Earth County found it would take $15 million to repair the dam, while removing it would cost $82 million.

Blue Earth County was approved for a federal disaster declaration.