Supplied photo

The clean-up of the thousands of sandbags along the U.S. shoreline of Rainy Lake is well underway.

It is estimated there are over half a million were laid down this spring in attempts to protect homes and businesses from the rising waters.

The lake is in decline and has now returned to within the upper part of the Rule Curve, which establishes where levels should be.

To assist with the removal of sandbags, Koochiching County set up a program for homeowners.

There have been 125 requests for assistance.

County Sheriff Perryn Hedlund says it is still going to take time to get the job done.

“I think we just need to manage people’s expectations. They’ve started, they’re making good progress, but it’s not going to be done next week by any means,” says Hedlund.

Hedlund notes twelve contractors have been enlisted to do the work.

A consultant is also assisting by meeting with property owners in advance of the clearings.

“For those people that have signed up, they went and did site assessments to determine how many sandbags might be there, how long it’s gonna take, and just to get some ideas,” says Hedlund.

The used sandbags are being taken to the County’s landfill site, where they are being repurposed.

The County has also started the process of recouping costs incurred during the flood.

Both the state and U.S. government declared states of emergency in the County, making it eligible to have much of its expenses covered by grants.