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| Warrenville Grove Dam's fate up to panel | |
| Jul 25, 2007 | |
| Kat Zeman, kzeman@dailyherald.com kzeman@dailyherald.com | |
| Daily Herald | |
| Pertains to West Branch Regional Trail, Warrenville | |
| It has witnessed the beginning of many romances and marriages. Its tranquil voice has sedated many that walk near its aquatic bank. But change eventually will befall the Warrenville Grove Dam on the west branch of the DuPage River near Warrenville. DuPage County Forest Preserve officials agreed Tuesday to form an advisory committee to tackle the task of removing all or a portion of the dam and finalizing stream restoration and river clean up. "I want you to know how many people in Warrenville love this dam," said Connie Schmidt, a Warrenville resident and member of the River Prairie Group of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization. The group endorses the overall $1.4 million plan to remove the dam because it’s expected to have biological, ecological and other environmental benefits. Environmentalists say areas of the river upstream of a dam are generally without life, filled with sediment and a barrier to fish migration. At the same time, the group and many others acknowledge the dam’s aesthetic and historical value. The committee — made up of representatives from the forest preserve, county, regulatory agencies and an engineering firm — will determine the design parameters and is expected to present an update to the forest preserve commission in about six months. John Wills, president of Christopher B. Burke Engineering West LTD, hired by the forest preserve to design the dam removal, said one of the first issues will be removing sediment accumulated behind the dam. John "Ole" Oldenburg, natural resources director for the forest preserve, said that includes roughly 46,000 cubic yards of sediment and 24,000 cubic feet of it is thorium tainted. Then the committee must decide if it wants to remove all or just a portion of the dam. Initially, there was talk of possibly incorporating a "riverarium" — a living exhibit that allows people to walk through a side channel of the river — into the project, but that’s unlikely, Oldenburg said. The dam removal project will be funded by a $10 million grant U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert, obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The dam removal is part of an effort to remove thorium along the west branch of the DuPage River. As part of the effort, workers will rebuild the banks, restore wetlands, eliminate invasive species and improve river flow. |
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