Environmentalists pitch plan to remove Kimball Street dam in Elgin
Editor's note: Information was added about whether removing the dam would have an effect on Walton Island.
Just a week after Batavia approved removal of its dam, environmentalists pitched a plan Wednesday in Elgin to remove the Kimball Street dam on the Fox River during the City Council's Committee of the Whole meeting.
Asking, "is our Fox more valuable dammed or free?," Art Malm, an engineer and member of Friends of the Fox River, painted a picture of a cleaner Fox River with fewer midge flies, better fishing and boating and new park land, in addition to improved public safety.
"Dam removal will eliminate the life-threatening dangers and the accompanying fear, opening our Fox to greater use as a premier water recreation resource," Malm said.
While Malm presented the cost of dam removal to be in the neighborhood of $1.2 to 1.5 million, the resulting change in water flow would likely require the movement of the city's water intake station. That would add another roughly $14 million to the price tag, an assessment with which Elgin Water Director Eric Weiss concurred.
Malm said that dam removal could ultimately save $60 million in future costs associated with nitrogen and phosphorous discharge.
Ultimately Malm had two requests of the council, asking for their help in getting federal funding to finish an Army Corps connectivity study evaluating the removal of the Fox's dams, and convening a public committee tasked with raising public awareness of the myriad issues related to dam removal.
Answering a question of council member Rosamaria Martinez about the timing, Malm said dams "served their purpose" before the advent of steam power.
"They're are certainly outdated, they are all financially obsolete," Malm said.
For those concerned about Walton Islands, Malm said not to worry.
"The water level below the dam is going to be the same as the water level is today," he said. "Walton Island was there likely before the dam, and if you remove the dam it will be there again."