After years of planning, removal work to begin on Carpentersville Dam on Fox River
After nearly a decade of planning, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has approved a contract to remove Carpentersville Dam in the Fox River Shores Forest Preserve.
Officials announced in a news release that work to remove the dam could begin by the end of the month.
The IDNR approved a dam removal contract on July 2. Kane County Forest Preserve commissioners approved it on July 9.
The Forest Preserve District of Kane County owns the Carpentersville Dam and nearly the entire shoreline for 2.5 miles upstream.
“It took some time to get here, but taking Carpentersville Dam out will be a huge benefit for both recreation and for conservation,” Forest Preserve Executive Director Benjamin Haberthur said in the release.
The dam’s removal will begin healing the Fox River and restoring the natural riverine resource, he said in the release.
“Once the dam is removed, the Fox River will be free-flowing from Algonquin all the way down to Elgin,” Haberthur said in the release. “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. We’ll also see the health of the Fox River improve. Fish and other aquatic wildlife will be able to swim freely.”
The number of fish species and the total number of fish will likely increase, as they have after other dam removals, Haberthur said in the release.
“Natural water flow will flush out sediment, reduce conditions that promote the growth of algae and other bacteria, and decrease water temperature,” Haberthur said in the release.
When agreed to by the owners, IDNR has been removing dams throughout the state.
With the Fox River no longer used as an industrial corridor, the forest preserve district began seeking grants to remove the concrete dam structure years ago.
In 2015, the forest preserve district signed an intergovernmental agreement with IDNR to remove the Carpentersville Dam at Fox River Shores in Carpentersville and the Fabyan Causeway at Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva.
The IDNR agreed to pay for the engineering and removal of both dams, with total costs capped at $3.5 million.
The Fabyan Causeway removal project was scheduled first and completed in November 2019 for about $1.4 million.
The Carpentersville Dam project followed in late 2019. However, due to multiple rounds of permitting, engineering, regulatory approvals and bidding, as well as the pandemic, the project took longer to finalize, according to the release.