Three Down, One to Go

Friends of the Chicago River is thrilled to share that last fall the dam at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Niles was finally removed, making it the third dam to come down out of the four Friends identified with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) during a dam removal river survey conducted in 2002.

Dam removal is one of the most important investments in aquatic life heath and is a priority for Friends of the Chicago River. Dams contribute to degradation by creating a barrier to the natural movement of fish and mussels in the upstream direction, trapping sediment, and altering the ecosystem in other harmful ways. For recreators, dangerous hydrologic conditions present on the downstream side of dams have the power to trap and drown paddlers, even when the dams are small.

In the early 2000s, Friends called the dangers dams present to the attention of then Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, who as governor established the Illinois Dam Removal Initiative which to date has resulted in 16 removals statewide with eight more under way or under consideration.

It is not unusual for dam removal to take more than a decade from initial identification to deconstruction and restoration considering the resistance to dam removal in many instances, complexity of the approval process, and the cost. 

Dams previously removed on the north branch of the Chicago River include the Winnetka Road Dam in Glencoe in 2015 and the North Branch Dam at River Park in Chicago in 2018. This year we expect to see the removal of the fourth and final dam that Friends and IDNR targeted at Chick Evans Golf Course in Morton Grove. An assessment of other dams and culverts and their impacts is in the early phase.

Read more about the importance of dam removal to river health in our River Reporter newsletter.