NEWS RELEASES
Water Soon To Be Restored At Jay Cooke State Park
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Duluth News Tribune's website.
Repairs to Jay Cooke State Park's damaged waterline are nearly complete and water could begin flowing in the park as early as next week, park manager Lisa Angelos said. The Minnesota park has been without running water since the main waterline connecting the park to Carlton's municipal water system was damaged in late October, leaving park visitors to use a port-a-potty or an outhouse ever since.
Dultuh News Tribune writer Lisa Kaczke relates in her article, "Repairing the waterline has been a complicated process because the damaged portion of pipe was at the bottom of a narrow canal involved in hydropower generation north of Jay Cooke. To repair the line, the park has coordinated with Minnesota Power regarding the canal's water flow and diver safety, in addition to waiting for good weather conditions. "We are making good progress on that — thankfully reached a point where weather conditions have allowed access for divers to the canal," Lisa Angelos said. More than 1,600 feet of the pipe was replaced in the canal, then the new pipe was centered in the canal. In addition to this renovation, the park's new campground sanitation building, expected to open for the 2019 camping season, will be 1.7 times larger than the old facility. In terms of funding for Minnesota parks, "the DNR requested $130 million from the Legislature this year for needed repairs, but it received $30 million, plus $6 million for the "betterment of buildings," said Kent Lokkesmoe, the DNR's director of capital investment."
Read the complete report on the Jay Cooke State Park projects at Duluth News Tribune.