Stillwater River restoration nears end

doug page The low-water dam on the Stillwater River in Englewood Preserve will be removed this summer. Last summer, a 2-foot deep notch was cut in the 150-foot dam. Work also was done on Englewood Lake to promote better water flow. The $1.5 million project is funded through state and local funds. Staff photo by Doug Page

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By Doug Page, Staff Writer Updated 9:51 AM Thursday, June 18, 2009

ENGLEWOOD — Five Rivers MetroParks hopes this summer to complete a $1.5 million project to restore the Stillwater River through the Englewood Preserve.

The three-year project now would be completed in two, according to project manager Joe Zimmerman.

“We’ll use the third year to observe the changes and make any adjustments needed,” he said.

A 2-foot-deep notch was cut in the 150-foot-long low-water dam last summer, along with bank restoration and rehabilitation of Englewood Lake, which was choking with silt. The remainder of the circa 1936 dam will be removed later this summer, and a “stepping structure” was installed upstream of the lower-water dam to ease the river’s drop as it approached the huge earthen Englewood dam.

“We hope to get on that during the dry spell later this summer,” Zimmerman said. “The engineers are finishing up their hydrology studies.”

Reconstruction of the inlet and outlet channels to the lake included water controls that help flush the lake of silt over time. The low-water dam and lake were created in the mid-1930s to provide recreation areas. Nature, however, had other ideas.

Over the decades, silt choked the river upstream of the dam and reduced the lake depth to less than 1 foot in places. Downstream of the dam, the small-mouth bass fishery is excellent. Upstream for more than a mile, fishing is poor to lousy.

To keep thousands of cubic yards of silt from flushing downstream and killing aquatic life, the dam removal was planned during two years. The stepping structures — rock caissons strategically placed upstream of the dam — will prevent the wholesale release of the silt.

The dam also has been dangerous for humans. Since 2003, three people have drowned in the roiling waters downstream of the dam. The last were Craig and Patricia Wenner on Christmas Day 2006 when they attempted to save their puppy who had fallen in the swift waters. Craig Wenner had worked for MetroParks for 24 years, including as the original project manager for the restoration.

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