River/Stream: Des Moines River
Location: S of Humboldt and Dakota City, Humboldt County
Latitude: 42.6741281731682
Longitude: -94.1900668510907
Built: 1949
Owner: Corn Belt Power
Height: 5 ft.
Length: 200 ft.
Hazards: drowning, portage, varying, visibility
Warning Signs: need improvement
Comments:
Portage: There is a boat ramp at Gotch Park. A half mile downstream is the Cornbelt REC dam. Take out at the gentle incline on the west side, and follow the gravel road to the put in point just a few hundred feet south. Don't go over this dam, you will die. There are watchers who will warn you off the river if you try to put in at Gotch Park. -- Gerry Rowland
Fatalitites: 3
May 23, 1985 - canoeists Reggie, Ronald & Stacy Tate
Incident Report:
Two brothers and their nephew drowned after their canoe went over the Corn Belt Power Dam on the Des Moines River near Humboldt, Iowa. All were wearing life vests. No one saw what happened, but the river is flat above and below the dam. All bodies were recovered within sight of the dam; the canoe was spotted and picked up near Fort Dodge, fifteen miles downstream..
