Hundreds attend dam removal meeting in St. Charles

Almost 400 people attended an informational meeting on the St. Charles Dam on Jan. 17 and while not everyone was happy with the information presented, organizers were pleased with the amount of public engagement and feedback they received.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently conducted a study of the Fox River and is recommending removal of all nine dams in Kane County from the Carpentersville Dam to the Montgomery Dam in order to restore the river’s natural wildlife habitat and improve water quality.

While final decisions on what to do about each dam will be left to local officials of the municipalities in which the dams reside, the Army Corps’ recommendation has sparked a great deal of controversy between community members in St. Charles on both sides of the issue, with some wanting the dam removed and others fighting for it to stay.

The River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles hosted the Dam Alternatives lecture Jan. 17 at the Arcada Theatre to present the community with a proposed alternative to removing the St. Charles Dam from the Fox River.

RCF director John Rabchuk began the lecture by providing some background on the Army Corps’ study and introducing the RCF’s Active River Project. He told the audience the purpose of the meeting was to present the community with information on alternative options to removing the dam.

“This is an informational meeting. No decisions are being made,” Rabchuk said. “There’s pluses and minuses to everything. Our purpose tonight is to show you some alternatives. It’s not a black and white question. It’s not either take out the dam or don’t take out the dam. There are alternatives and things that can be done.”

Engineer Scott Shipley, with S20 Design & Engineering (now part of Calibre) out of Colorado, presented plans to reengineer the St. Charles Dam into a waterway with whitewater rapids, canals for fish migration and space for public parks and features.

The Active River Project would reconstruct the river from the dam north to the Great Western Trail Railroad trestle. Designs include a section of river rapids for paddlers, a pedestrian walkway under the Main Street Bridge and multiple park areas for community events and festivals.

The project would renovate the shorelines on both banks of the river and includes plans to remodel the vacant city-owned property that was the site of the former police station.

Rabchuk said the project would not change water levels on either side, thus preserving the use of the river for paddlers and keeping the riverside holes at Pottawatomie Golf Course intact.

Shipley said based on the needs and concerns of the community voiced at previous meetings, the goal of his design team was to find a balance between recreational functionality, natural habitat improvement and flood mitigation. He said the design would use natural tools, environmental features and morphology to create an iconic feature while maintaining water levels and natural river features.

In the first 15 minutes of the presentation, Shipley was heckled on multiple occasions by a member of the audience in the front row who argued there was nothing natural about the firm’s designs.

After interrupting the presentation a third time, the heckler stood up and began to leave, which prompted applause from the rest of the audience. The man shouted, “You guys are morons” to the crowd as he walked out past the cheering audience.

Shipley said the project would create an iconic attraction in St. Charles that would bring people to town and stimulate the economy. He said river projects like the one proposed can be transformative for cities, turning a once hazardous part of the river into a feature that becomes a major landmark and adventure destination.

“St. Charles has a unique opportunity, the way our river is right in the middle of our downtown, the way the dam is structured now and the way that the natural riverbed exists, it’s the perfect location for doing this kind of thing and I think it would have a tremendous positive impact on our community,” Rabchuk said.

Shipley listed other cities, most of them in Colorado, that have installed river features similar to the Active River Project. He said those cities have seen economic impacts of millions of dollars a year.

Removal of the dam would be paid for mainly with state and federal dollars. A major downside of the Active River Project is the alternative plan backed by RCF could cost the city millions. Another downside is that while this alternative would improve fish migration, it would not meet the Army Corps’ goal of improving water quality.

Questions shouted by audience members interrupted Shipley on multiple occasions throughout the lecture.

Audience members were asked to write questions on notecards provided before the lecture that were collected and answered at the end of the lecture. After the presentation, Rabchuk and Shipley responded to the audience’s questions.

One person asked if other towns with dams on the Fox River are considering similar alternatives. Rabchuk said Batavia is considering something similar, but many cities are in different positions than St. Charles, such as Elgin, which uses its dam for drinking water.

Another person asked how the removal of other Fox River dams such as the Geneva Dam would affect this plan. Rabchuk said the removal of other dams would have no effect on their project.

Rabchuk said the last cost estimate of the project was conducted 10 years ago and was estimated at $10 million. While he said the foundation would seek grant funding for the project, the cost remained a major concern for residents in attendance.

The dam is owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Rabchuk said if the city were to take matters into its own hands and build something such as the alternative proposed, the city of St. Charles likely would take ownership of the dam.

Other community concerns included how the project would affect fish migration in regard to invasive species, the impact on home values near the river and the impact the project would have on parking in the city.

Rabchuk said regardless of whether the dams are kept or removed, there are going to be changes to the river based on the Army Corps’ recommendation. He said each option will have different trade-offs for what those changes are and each community is going to have to decide what changes will be best for their city.

“There is nobody in this room or in this city, quite frankly, that’s going to agree with all those changes,” Rabchuk said. “There’s going to be some good and some bad.”

Rabchuk said those who want to voice their opinions on which option the city should support should talk to their local alderperson. Community members also can provide feedback on the lecture on the RCF website.

Rabchuck said the meeting was one of their most attended, and other than the one heckler, who he suspected of being inebriated, there were many thoughtful and intelligent questions asked.