DNR water funding includes grants to remove 2 lowhead dams

CORYDON, Ind. (AP) - State officials have awarded $1.2 million for improvements along Indiana's lakes and rivers, including funding to remove two lowhead dams.

The funding for 27 lake and river enhancement projects announced Monday by Indiana's Department of Natural Resources will mostly go toward helping stabilize shorelines and riverbanks.

But it includes about $100,000 each for removing a lowhead dam along the Elkhart River in northern Indiana's Elkhart County and another lowhead dam in southern Indiana's Harrison County, near Corydon.

The DNR says removing dams that serve no current purpose improves stream habitat, boosts biological diversity and improves river safety for boaters, paddlers, anglers and swimmers.

Low-head dams can be deadly when the waters are high because people can get trapped in the hydraulic action of the water at the dam's base.