Work to remove Carpentersville Dam on the Fox River will begin later the month, according to the executive director of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.
The district has obtained the necessary permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District, and Kane County Water Resources.
Removal work is expected to take about a month, officials said. The dam is part of Kane County’s Fox River Shores Forest Preserve.
Demolition plans began years before the Army Corps of Engineers issued a report in 2023 recommending that nine other dams on the river also be removed, including those in Elgin, South Elgin, Aurora and St. Charles. However, after questions arose about what would happen to the riverway with lowered water levels, wider banks, sediment shifts and other changes, the agency is doing more research before proceeding.
The forest preserve district is committed to the plan because of what it means for the river, Executive Director Benjamin Haberthur said in a news release.
“It took some time to get here, but taking Carpentersville Dam out will be a huge benefit for both recreation and conservation,” he said. “Once the dam is removed, the Fox River will be free flowing from Algonquin all the way down to Elgin. This will allow the public to safely boat, kayak or canoe in this area, without the safety concerns of the dam and/or having to portage around it.”
Projects involving water are always more complicated, Jennifer Rooks-Lopez, chief of planning and land management, said in the release, and one of this magnitude required much more in the way of regulatory coordination.
“We initially engineered the Carpentersville dam removal project to be done while diverting all of the water,” she said. “However, the cost of that was prohibitive. As IDNR (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) is funding this entire project, we re-engineered it to be done within the water, so that it would be less expensive.
“We’re happy to finally be able to move forward with this important project,” Rooks-Lopez said.
IDNR has been working with dam owners throughout the state to remove the man-made barriers and restore the river’s original flow in order to improve water quality, enviromental habitats and public safety. Once committed to the idea, the forest preserve district began seeking grants to cover the cost of taking out the concrete structure.
An intergovernmental agreement with IDNR was approved in 2015 to remove the Carpentersville dam and the Fabyan Causeway at the Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva. The state agency agreed to pay for the engineering and removal of both structures at a total cost of $3.5 million, the release said.
Removal of the Fabyan Causeway was finished in November 2019 for about $1.4 million, the release said.
The Carpentersville project was to follow, officials said, but it took longer than anticipated because multiple rounds of permitting, engineering, regulatory approvals and bidding were needed and the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays.
Haberthur said he’s thrilled the work is finally to start because of what it will mean to the river as a natural resource.
“Fish and other aquatic wildlife will be able to swim freely,” he said in the release. “The number of fish species and the total number of fish will likely increase, as they have after other dam removals,” he said.
“Natural water flow will flush-out sediment, reduce conditions that promote the growth of algae and other bacteria, and decrease water temperature,” he said.
Once the removal is complete, the forest preserve district plans to hold a “ribbon-tying “ceremony, rather than a ribbon-cutting ceremony, to symbolize the reconnection of the river.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
