Incidental Take Notice For Dunn County

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) proposes to issue a permit for the incidental taking of a rare fish and turtle, which may result from the Cedar Falls Spillway Modifications project.  Incidental take refers to the unintentional loss of individual endangered or threatened animals or plants that does not put the species' overall population at risk.

Xcel Energy (Xcel) plans to modify the Cedar Falls hydroelectric dam spillway. The proposed spillway modifications consist of constructing a reinforced concrete spillway with six steel Tainter gates, a crest gate and a reinforced concrete stilling basin.

The project is located on the Red Cedar River in Dunn County, Wisconsin, just north of the City of Menomonie. It is anticipated that the modifications could be constructed over a three-year duration with five sub-phases that are dependent on the Cedar Falls Hydroelectric Project’s ability to pass river flows at different times of the year. 

The presence of the state-threatened redfin shiner and the state-threatened wood turtle is confirmed in the vicinity of the project site. DNR staff determined that the proposed project may result in the incidental taking of some fish and turtles.

The DNR concludes that the proposed project is not likely to appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival or recovery of the species within the state, the whole plant-animal community of which they are a part of or the habitat that is critical to their existence.

Conservation measures to minimize the adverse effect on the threatened species will be incorporated into the proposed Incidental Take Permit. Copies of the jeopardy assessment and background information on the redfin shiner and wood turtle are available by visiting the DNR Incidental Take Public Notices webpage or upon request from DNR Conservation Biologist Stacy Rowe, DNR Conservation Biologist, at 608-228-9796 or stacy.rowe@wisconsin.gov.

The public is encouraged to submit written or verbal comments regarding project-related impacts to the redfin shiner and/or wood turtle by May 26, 2021 to:

Department of Natural Resources
c/o Stacy Rowe
101 S. Webster St. Madison, WI 53707
stacy.rowe@wi.gov or 608-228-9796