John Shadey, a consultant working with Five Rivers MetroParks, spent his Wednesday in the Great Miami River with a crew collecting fresh water mussels to be relocated before construction can start. The mussels, among Ohio’s most endangered creatures, are protected by law.
Workers using flotation devices and goggles are combing the river bottom for the mussels. At its maximum depth, the river was about five-and-a-half feet deep Wednesday, Shadey said.
“It’s interesting what you can find down there,” Shadey said.
Golf balls, bottles and cans mingle with the mussels, he added.
Once the mussels are cleared, Five Rivers will have to complete permitting from the Miami Conservancy District to begin the construction of what is called a coffer dam to lower the river levels. The coffer dam could be installed starting July 1.
The boulders for the second water feature - a dam-like structure from one end of the river to the other with two safe passages for watercraft - could be installed two months from now at the RiverScape MetroPark close to Jefferson Street.
Hopes are that the entire $4 million project could be completed by year’s end. But it depends on the weather and how the river behaves, said Five Rivers MetroParks Deputy Director Carrie Scarff.
Downriver, the top of the Monument Avenue low dam has been removed and re-engineered, replaced by boulders that offer two safe passages through the dam. That River Run feature is nearly completed, said Scarff. What remains is fine tuning.
That’s because the river flow has been altered by a causeway - a dirt and gravel island - built in the river by Kokosing Construction Company Inc., the contractor on the Interstate 75 rebuild downtown. The causeway was built for the I-75 project. Scarff said Kokosing hopes to remove the causeway this summer.
Once it becomes clear how the river flow was altered by the causeway’s removal, the finishing touches to ensure safe water flow could begin on the Monument Avenue low dam.
But everything depends on rainfall and river levels this summer and fall, Scarff said.
“If the river is up all summer, the contractor can’t work,” Scarff said. “If it is down, they will work all summer. It’s down enough now so that work can happen. If it stays down, we’ll see a lot of large rocks placed in the river,” Scarff said. “It just all depends on Mother Nature.”
The recent drowning of a 3-year-old at Eastwood MetroPark's Mad River Run kayak feature has underscored the need for safety on the river, Scarff said. No swimming or tubing is allowed at river parks.
“The warning is no swimming,” Scarff said. “That was just a tragic situation with a young child who had no way of knowing how dangerous it was, and it’s a very difficult thing for that family, and our hearts go to out to them.”
She added: “You should always wear a personal flotation device near the water. If you are in a boat on the water, always wear a PFD. It’s a river.”
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