With Last Dam Removed, Fox River (Illinois) Again Flowing Free

[hatrack]

BATAVIA — Ecologists on Wednesday used the analogy of heart surgery in describing the healthy flow of the Fox River following last winter's removal of the South Batavia Dam. They said it did require a surgical team, working from October to January, to successfully crack through, pull material back and remove mounds of concrete and steel protrusions that were clogging the system, all the while monitoring the sediment in order to restore natural habitat and open fish passageways.

The South Batavia Dam, in the area near Funway on Route 25, was a manmade structure built in the mid-1900s for an industrial coal-burning power plant in Batavia. "The dams no longer serve any purpose," said Jeffrey Mengler, a botanist and wetland ecologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and member of the Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, which sponsored a meeting on the dam Wednesday.

It cost $1.1 million to remove tons of concrete and gravel, as well as wreckage of steel and iron that was used as concrete reinforcement for the technology of the times. The west spillway was removed, a portion of the inner island was kept open and the east spillway was lowered.

Representatives of the Kane County Forest Preserve District, owners of the dam and representatives from Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, comprised of experts in the profession, were particularly interested in sharing the progress. Drew Ullberg, director of Natural Resources for the Kane County Forest Preserve District, said removal of the dam was "a good case study" on a project requiring the involvement of several entities for successful completion.

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http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/city/2_1_AU17_BATDAM_S10817.htm

[madrchsod]

1. needs to be done on the rock also

the tribes and trappers used to canoe all the way from janesville,wisconson to rock island,illiois each spring..now there`s a dam every 20 miles

[Massacure]

2. The river is so full of PCBs anyways, that this probably won't matter much

Too many fish in the Fox have two heads or three eyes and such other deformities.

[ajacobson]

3. I am glad this was done

I used to live in Northern Illinois and always liked the Fox River, some of it is quite nice.

[NNadir]

4. I love to hear about an unchained river.

I cannot help but be ambivalent about hydropower. I know from a climate change perspective, we need it now, but what happens to the rivers pains me deeply.