Spring Lake - Upper Mississippi Refuge National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

Immediately following World War I, the area know as Spring Lake was diked and ditched for farming. In 1938 and 1939, the land was purchased by the Corps of Engineers for the creation of the lock and dam systems. Through seepage and springs located within the perimeter levee, a 3,000 acre lake had developed by 1946. The perimeter levee was breached in two places in the flood of 1965. The west breach was repaired in 1991 and the south side remains open. In 1995, a $3.3 million rehabilitation program project was started which included improving the levee system and cross dike, developing a 100-acre semi-mash in Lower Spring Lake, and subdividing the Upper Lake into three separate management cells for waterfowl.