Batavia City Council continues looking at dam removal

More than a year after making plans to remove the Batavia Dam, Batavia City Council members are budgeting $20,000 for a feasibility study to be conducted in 2025 before moving forward with engineering plans.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a study of the Fox River last year that recommended removal of all Fox River dams in Kane County, sparking controversy among municipalities along the river. The city of Batavia, however, already had been considering the dam’s removal for decades because of its deterioration and safety concerns.

Batavia approved a River Corridor Master plan in 2023 that called for the dam to be removed and replaced with a series of rock weirs as well as possibly adding a whitewater rapids feature. Associated costs for the project are estimated at more than $13 million.

While other municipalities along the Fox River have been scrambling to make decisions or be faced with taking ownership of their dams, Batavia owns its dam and council members can take their time while planning its removal.

The Batavia Dam is more than 100 years old and has been crumbling for years. It is a concrete low head dam spanning about 365 feet in length with an 11.5-foot drop. One of the major factors in planing the dam’s removal is maintaining Depot Pond, which would become a mudflat if the dam is fully removed.

While the city owns the dam, Depot Pond is owned by the Batavia Park District. In 2019, the city and the park district entered an intergovernmental agreement to finalize the Fox River Corridor Master Plan that ultimately decided the dam’s future.

In August 2023, the city and park district as part of the River Corridor Master Plan voted to remove the dam and replace it with a series of step down rock weirs that would start high enough to create a pool to the north that would keep the Depot Pond filled. While both entities approved and adopted the master plan, no timelines, funding sources or parties responsible for taking action were decided.

Opinions were divided between two options. Option A would have fully removed the dam as recommended by the Army Corps of Engineers, with the addition of a berm to maintain the pond at an estimated cost of $4.5 million. Option B would replace the dam with step down rock weirs and is estimated to cost $13.5 million. The Army Corps of Engineers has said it only will fund full dam removals and would not provide funding for the rock weir replacements.

During the voting process, several council members were OK with getting rid of the pond, while others, including Mayor Jeff Schielke were set on preserving it.

The park district voted unanimously for Option B.

Council members initially were split between the two options before eventually finding consensus for Option B.

The next step of the plan was expected to be approving an engineering services contract to prepare for the construction, but council members now are eyeing a feasibility study before any engineering work.

At the Sept. 24 Committee of the Whole meeting, council members agreed to move forward with budgeting $20,000 in 2025 for the feasibility study. No money will be spent and council members will not have to review the study again until a contract for the work is brought forward, which is expected to be sometime next year, depending on how the project aligns with other projects budgeted for in 2025.

While some council members at the Sept, 24 meeting were in favor of budgeting for engineering services to get the process moving, everyone agreed that a feasibility study was a good first step and the committee moved to add the budgeted amount to the 2025 budget.

Several council members also were interested in learning more about possible recreational options for the dam and suggested reaching out to Yorkville to see how community members have responded to their channel of river rapids, completed in 2010.

City Administrator Laura Newman said while they have a plan in place there are still many decisions to be made before Batavia residents see any changes to the dam.

Newman said the city would like the feasibility study to assess possible costs, possible economic impacts the project may have and gauge the Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ amenability for permitting the project.