DNR sets aside $500,000 to upgrade Riviera access on Otter Tail Lake

A $500,000 rebuild is coming to Riviera Public Water Access on the north shore of Otter Tail Lake, promising bigger parking stalls, a safer launch and less congestion for anglers, boaters and summer visitors in Otter Tail County.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set aside the money for a full reconstruction of the access, which was first developed in 1983 and sits entirely on state-owned and state-administered property in Ottertail. The plan goes well beyond a routine patch job. It calls for a complete rebuild of the parking area, larger vehicle and trailer stalls, two ADA-accessible stalls, wider drive lanes, two ADA-accessible inspection and management spaces, replacement and realignment of two concrete ramp sections, new boarding docks and stormwater treatment and water-management features.

Those changes are aimed at a site that has long served as one of the county’s busiest public launch points. By enlarging the stalls from 40 feet by 11 feet to 50 feet by 12 feet, the DNR is targeting one of the biggest pain points for trailer users, tight maneuvering space when the lot is full and launches stack up during peak summer weekends. The new docks and ramp work should make the launch easier to use, while the stormwater improvements are meant to help the site hold up over time.

The project is part of a $700 million infrastructure package authored by Sen. Jordan Rasmusson of Fergus Falls during the 2025 legislative session. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in late July 2026 and is expected to take two to three months, which means boaters are likely to feel the disruption during the height of the season before the benefits start showing up later in the summer or early fall.

The investment also fits into a much larger public-access system. Minnesota has about 3,000 public water access sites statewide, and the DNR says roughly 1,700 are state-owned while another 1,700 locally owned sites can receive state support. Public water accesses are also known as boat ramps, and state funding is aimed at acquisition, development and improvement of places with parking lots, docks and launching ramps.

MN-FISH said it helped secure $35 million for public water access improvements in 2023, and Mark Holsten said upgrades like Riviera help keep public lake access usable for future generations. In Otter Tail and Wilkin counties, Fergus Falls area fisheries staff manage 250 fishing lakes and 150 miles of rivers and streams, underscoring how much local recreation and fisheries work depends on reliable access points like Riviera.