Kane County organizations to host meetings on Fox River dams next week

Kane County nonprofit organizations Friends of the Fox River and the River Corridor Foundation will host two separate meetings next week to inform the public about the controversial recommendation to remove Fox River dams.

Based on the findings of study conducted last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is recommending removal of all nine Fox River 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.

The Army Corps conducted the Fox River Habitat and Connectivity Study as part of the Illinois River Basin Restoration Program. The study findings will be reported to congress, and the decision to remove the dams will be up to each municipalities locally elected officials.

The Army Corps’ recommendation has sparked a great deal of controversy among residents for and against removal of the dams. Yard signs, billboards and digital signs at local businesses, advocating for both sides have been on display in Kane County since September.

One petition to keep the St. Charles dam, started by St. Charles resident Rebecca Geier, has received over 5,000 signatures.

On one side, residents in favor of the removal of the dams believe it will create a more natural, beautiful, free-flowing river. Those in favor of removing the dams have also claimed it will improve river recreation and water sports.

On the other side, residents against removing the dams say the resulting water levels will make water activities obsolete and the river will diminish both in size and beauty, leaving an ugly shoreline and decreased property values. Others are concerned that removal of the dams will make way invasive species to infest the river and discourage eagles from nesting along it.

Friends of the Fox River is a nonprofit organization based in the Fox River Valley that has long been advocating for the removal of the dams. They will host a meeting on Sunday, Jan. 14, where the group’s president, Gary Swick, will provide residents with an informative look at the health of the Fox River Watershed.

The Friends of the Fox River meeting will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Schweitzer Environmental Center at 16N900 Sleepy Hollow Rd. in West Dundee. Those who wish to attend should register here prior to the event.

The River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles will hold their own lecture detailing alternatives to the removal of the city’s Fox River dam from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Arcada Theatre on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

The River Corridor Foundation believes that complete removal of the St. Charles dam would have a dramatic negative impact on the segment of the river from downtown St. Charles north to South Elgin. The foundation has been advocating for alternative options that would improve the health of the river while maintaining water levels and opportunity for recreation, detailed in their Active River Project.

The River Corridor Foundation will present guest speaker Scott Shipley, an engineer with S2O Design & Engineering (now a part of Calibre), who will talk about his dam alternative concepts for St. Charles, with examples of how other communities have creatively used river engineering to deal with dam removals and their resulting successes.

The lecture will be the first in the foundation’s 2024 A River Flows Through It lecture series which will each feature different river-related topics and guest speakers in St. Charles.

Those interested in attending this or future lectures in the series should register here prior to the event. For more information on the organization and their other initiatives, visit the River Corridor Foundation website.