The Fewer Dams the Better

A simple post was put up today, Friday, October 26th, on the Facebook page of Marc Miller, Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Governor Quinn Announces Completion of Hofmann Dam Removal

You can’t remove too many dams from waterways and it looks like a few more are in the works.

This is a good thing.

Of course, I had to leave a note in response on Facebook with my own wish list…

Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora and Montgomery on the Fox would be nice. On it’s creeks, Mill Creek has one that could go away easy enough. There are a few more small ones on Big Rock north of Plano, but no more ramping those please…

It’s just a wish list, no hurry. My lifetime maybe, but I don’t know how much of that I have left. 20 years perhaps.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. This is funny that you post this today (Friday).. I just selected for my project for a class the topic of dam removal, and how it affects streams, on the same day. Important stuff.

    -Dan

    1. Dan, there’s a lot of info out there for you, overwhelming at times. One of the things I found out when I was more actively involved with removals was that one of the biggest bottlenecks was fishermen. You do know that the only fish in a river are all within a quarter mile of a dam. Plus, dams create water and the river will dry up if you remove them… You want to bang your head on a wall every time you hear these things.

      1. We have a few on Elkhorn Creek in Georgetown KY that would really make nice targets for removal. Five or six I believe. They’re low header dams and have caused a few drownings, the latest a 13-year-old boy. I believe the waters would be safer without them, and I believe the small mouth fishing on this end of that creek would be better as well. Just my two cents.

        1. Pam, the conversations and community involvement when trying to get a dam removed are horrible. Too much back and forth. Seems simple to me, tell them when the dam is coming out, then do it. End of conversation.

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