Cook, Lake counties to remove 3 dams along Des Plaines River

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) - Cook and Lake counties plan to remove three obsolete dams this fall on the Des Plaines River to improve wildlife habitat and water quality.

The counties have been working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to continue a program that began several years ago but stalled in part because of state funding issues, the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald (http://bit.ly/2b7tTxw ) reported.

Lake County leaders who tired of waiting for approval for a grant they might never receive have budgeted $690,000 to remove the last two dams on their stretch of the river. The two dams are located at the MacArthur Woods forest preserve near Libertyville and the Captain Daniel Wright Woods forest preserve near Mettawa.

"Everything is in place and now is an excellent time to be working in the Des Plaines River because there's no water," said Jim Anderson, director of natural resources for the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Additionally, Cook County is set to begin removing the Dempster Avenue Dam in Des Plaines in mid-August. Three dams will remain in the county's portion of the Des Plaines River after the dam is completely removed by the end of October, said Eric Otto, an engineer with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

"We're anticipating removing them whenever funding comes from the state," Otto said. "The projects aren't on hold. We're moving ahead with the permitting and design."

The dams were originally built for recreation, sanitary waste purposes, or as farm equipment crossings, but they've become obsolete because of highway bridges and wastewater treatment facilities. They trap silt, pose potential hazards to paddlers and prevent the movement of fish.

"Our senior wildlife biologist is always excited by the fish species he sees after the dams are removed," Otto said.

Lake County previously removed the dam at Ryerson Woods in Deerfield in 2011.

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Information from: Daily Herald, http://www.dailyherald.com