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The St. Charles dam 📸 Credit: Fox Valley Drones
St. Charles officials moved to settle a years-long debate during the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, advancing a resolution indicating that the city aims to keep the Fox River dam impoundment in place.
The recommendation still needs a final council vote to take effect as official city policy.
Here's what to know:
What the resolution says: The city aims to preserve the river's impoundment (the elevated pool of water created upstream of the dam), which isn’t necessarily the same as the dam structure itself. The resolution, as amended Monday, allows for potential future modifications to the dam, including structural changes that could address safety concerns.
The latest chapter: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' study evaluating 10 Fox River dams between Algonquin and Montgomery has stalled due to a lapse in federal funding, with no restart time set. Officials said that this was creating uncertainty around future development planning, particularly decisions about the former police department property adjacent to the river.
The task force is gone: The resolution concludes the Fox River Dam Joint Task Force, which the city established in 2024 to study the dam's environmental, economic, and recreational impacts. The group was still in the process of selecting an engineering and environmental consultant as recently as February, with three finalists under review.
The opposing view: Two speakers pushed back during public comment. One suggested that maintaining the impoundment could affect water conditions in a way that would raise water and sewer rates to pay for needed infrastructure upgrades. A second speaker said the resolution ignores the river's health and leaves the city on the hook for any accidents caused by a dangerous hydraulic current at the base of the dam that has caused fatalities.
Both speakers asked the council to hold off on a decision until a study mapping the riverbed is completed this fall to help residents better understand the impact of removal. Other residents who spoke supported the resolution, pointing to the river's recreational value and concerns about property values along the riverfront.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources currently owns the dam. The amendment also added language referencing the potential impact on historically significant structures along the river, including Hotel Baker and the city's municipal building, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Watch the full committee discussion recording.
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