(This article, reprinted with permission, featuring the Alum Creek low-head dam removal, appeared in Bexley News on October 15, 2008)  10/24/08

River restoration is goal of dam removal

By LAURA ENGLEHART

Friends of Alum Creek & Tributaries (FACT) is in the process of removing a low-head dam located on Alum Creek between Academy Park and Wolfe Park in Columbus in an effort to help the environment.

The removal effort began Monday, Oct. 6.

The project, financed by a three-year $280,000 grant administered by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, also includes the demolition of a low-head dam near Nelson Park and environmental restoration in both areas.

FACT, a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization established to protect and preserve Alum Creek, expects to remove both dams, at a total project cost of $250,000, by the beginning of November as the grant monies expire at the end of this year.

Ross Gibson, non-point source section manager in the Division of Surface Water for the Ohio EPA, said the agency is encouraging government and local environmental groups to remove the dams, an initiative that started about 10 years ago with the decline in salmon runs in Washington and Oregon.

The U.S. EPA established an amendment to the Clean Water Act in 1987 to create a national program to control non-point source pollution.

Non-point source pollution, Gibson said, typically results from unregulated run-off and originates from a number of sources, rather than a single point of discharge.

The low-head dams on Alum Creek contribute to two non-point source pollution problems.

"The most fundamental problem with dams and low-head dams is that they convert what should be a natural-moving river system and change it into a lake. You see a whole series of related issues if the water is no longer flowing as rapidly; the water tends to become very low in dissolved oxygen."

Gibson also said that such dams create sediment traps under water.

"When the water is picking up a lot of sediments and hits these slow stretches of current, some of that sediment will fall out and fill in spaces between cobble and rocks, which is important for bugs and invertebrates -- the first link in the food chain."

The combination of these factors alters the environment and the population of aquatic life in the water system. It also imposes a hazard to public safety, Gibson said.

Gibson said a spring season rarely passes without someone drowning near a low-head dam. More than 20 years ago, two children died after getting caught in the vortex below a low-head dam on Alum Creek.

Kimberly Williams, FACT watershed coordinator, said according to research, the dams were built more than 70 years ago in the Depression era as a way to help put people back to work.

"I think the ideal thing at the time was to have lake-front property and the dams were built to create lakes for row boats to use," said Williams.

The construction of the dams caused the water quality to deteriorate, Williams said.

"One of the ways we look at water quality is to look at the biology -- fish and macro-invertebrates. You get a lot of pollutant-tolerant organisms if the water is bad," said Williams.

"We can also relate how the river looks, or its structure -- it should look free-flowing or meandering. If it is, you'll find more diverse fish and insects."

Williams said project workers will embed rocks in the stream to create a riffle feature and maintain the stream bed, which will help improve oxygen levels.

Removal of the dams will prompt an immediate improvement to water quality in Alum Creek, Williams said, and based on the results of other dam removals, the habitat should recover within a year.

"It will be a test to see whether or not the creek reaches full attainment," said Williams. "Ultimately it will be the river that will determine what happens."

Williams said the expectation is to see increased diversity in fish and insects and a more dynamic habitat in Alum Creek shortly after the dams are demolished.

Remaining grant money from the Ohio EPA will help fund an ongoing project to uproot invasive honeysuckle around Alum Creek and plant native plants on its banks and in upland areas.

While invasive honeysuckle does not grow to the height of the trees, it shades the under story of trees that birds need to nest, said Williams. It also limits flowering plants.

"Diversity is better all around. The more diverse the system, the healthier it is," said Williams.

FACT planned to hold an outdoor ceremony to celebrate the first dam removal at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Academy Park, 250 S. Nelson Road in Columbus. Representatives from FACT, the Ohio EPA and the City of Columbus were scheduled to speak about the value of the project for the Alum Creek watershed and surrounding communities.

"Ultimately it will be the river that will determine what happens."

--Kimberly Williams

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