Evie Wada

The USACE and IDNR recommend removing the dam in downtown St. Charles.

After releasing a 14-year long environmental assessment of the Fox River last fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommended removing nine man-made Fox River dams. The dam in downtown St. Charles could be removed if the City of St. Charles and the Joint Task Force express interest to the USACE.

The project would be paid for with federal funding and non-federal sponsors.

“[The USACE] will subsidize 65% of the removal costs, which have to do with legal work, engineering work and the actual deconstruction,” said Gary Swick, Friends of the Fox River president. “The IDNR will pay 35% of the dam removal, so in the case of the St. Charles dam, that means the full price of removal will be covered by federal and state. It will not be borne by local tax rates.”

Friends of the Fox River — a nonprofit organization which educates the public about the river through related events — advocates for the dam removals because of the environmental and financial benefits.

“In this case, removing the dam is the most cost effective, easiest way to address [an overabundance of nutrients in the river], and with the exception of phosphorus, it’s the only way really known to address that,” said Swick.

Past dam removals show a trend of improving water quality.

“These impounded areas with slow water and an increase in sediment [collect kind of a sink] for these nutrients,” said Tristan Widloe, IDNR stream specialist. “Phosphorus can create algal blooms, which can also decrease dissolved oxygen and potentially, depending on the certain time, … can lead to fish kills.”

Removing the dam would also allow for more fish and mussel passage, causing the Fox River ecosystem to return to its natural state.

“You’ll see more quality fish like smallmouth bass, like walleye returning to these areas that they don’t [live in] currently,” said Widloe.

However, some local residents express possible concerns over removing the dams. Vince DiGioia — an avid fisherman — grew up and lives in the Fox River Valley, and he still regularly visits St. Charles.

“I do fish a lot, and I own a boat, but a long time ago I learned that to fish effectively on the river, I had to have a jet outboard,” said DiGioia. “[A jet outboard] allows me to go in very shallow water without damaging the motor … so I think dam removals would possibly make that problem a little bit worse.”

DiGioia also worries for property owners near the river.

“I don’t know how much [the USACE and IDNR] wanted to hear from the greater public when it comes to the dam removal,” said DiGioia. “A lot of people who live on that river … bought their property based on the river as it is today. They have large investments. … There was talk of this going on, but I just don’t think they were included in the process as much as they should have been.”

Due to lowered water levels, certain recreational activities could no longer be as accessible, especially in areas directly upstream of dams.

“I have great empathy for the people in St. Charles that love the river. Everybody loves the river,” said Swick. “But for people that want to be on a paddle boat, people that want to be wakeboarding and waterskiing and to be on a pontoon boat, that opportunity is going to be threatened. … You’re going to win on water quality, you’re going to win on maintenance and liability, but they have something to lose.”

The Fox River Preservation Society — a group opposing the dam removal — did not respond to the request for an interview, but an electronic petition to keep the St. Charles dam is available on its website.