FARGO (AP) - Stacking boulders below dams near Hickson and Christine would tame dangerous hydraulics and allow fish to move more freely up and down the Red River, officials say.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department have long advocated modifying the city-owned Hickson and Christine dams, or removing them.

Although costs must still be determined and funding sources identified, agencies on both sides of the Red River are interested in making the dams safer, said Wade Kline, a planner with the Metropolitan Council of Governments.

Matt McGlynn knows something needs to be done soon. He was wearing a life jacket but it made little difference when the turbulence below the Hickson dam sucked him under after his canoe swamped.

McGlynn believes he and his brother, Clark, were seconds from drowning when a passer-by tossed them a lifeline and pulled them to safety.

"I don't think we would have made it," McGlynn said.

The city does not want to lose the water storage capabilities of the dams, and removing them holds the risk of destabilizing riverbanks, Fargo City Engineer Mark Bittner said.

Recent talks between the city and state officials focused on the modification option, and Bittner said the city is moving in that direction.

Permits must be secured but cost will be the biggest obstacle, he said, with potential price tags ranging from $200,000 to more than $1 million per site.

Low-head dams are known for the dangerous undertows they create. Three low-head dams built in the 1930s on the Red River in Fargo killed at least 30 people by 1993.