NEWS RELEASE
May 16, 2016
Media Contact Kathleen Boe
e / kathleen.boe@minneapolisriverfront.org
p / 612.746.4987
Return to a more natural river? River ecology after the lock

Join us for the next Riverfront Vitality Forum: 6 pm to 7:30 pm, May 26, 2016 at the Mill City Museum
Minneapolis, Minn. – Nearly a year ago, in an unusual move, the lock at Upper Saint Anthony Falls was closed to boat and barge traffic. The closure was the result of an act of Congress, designed, in part, to slow the spread of invasive carp up the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, to rivers and lakes beyond.
Inevitably, the closure and the end of dredging the area for a shipping channel is having an impact on the area’s ecology. What is the impact on the shape of the river bottom? How are invertebrates and mussels impacted? What is the impact on water chemistry?

The Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and the St. Anthony Falls Lab and River Life Program at the University of Minnesota have partnered to delve into these questions.

Join us, along with a panel of experts to discuss the kinds of impact we may see on our river environment:

• Mike Davis, River Ecologist for the Minnesota DNR
• Carrie Jennings, Director of Research and Planning Director for the Freshwater Society
• Jane Mazack, Ph.D. candidate in Water Resources Science at the University of Minnesota
• Alan Robbins-Fenger, Chief of Resource Management for the National Park Service, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
• Scott Vreeland, Vice President of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and longtime river advocate

The Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership is a state-chartered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that facilitates and supports coordinated revitalization of the Mississippi Riverfront in the City of Minneapolis. MRP brings diverse community partners together to shape a vital role for the Mississippi River in enhancing the economic, social and natural life of the City of Minneapolis and to ensure that this development benefits all segments of the community.

For more information, visit https://www.minneapolisriverfront.org/
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