Change, time, the town, and the river. A parable

After attending another public hearing on dam removal, this time in the village of Grafton, WI, and listening to all the opposition of property owners and concerned citizens to the loss of the "aesthetic beauty" of the historic impoundment, and the complete lack of vision by citizenry as to what a free-flowing river can bring to a community, as it has to our very Milwaukee River upstream of the old North Avenue dam, the area of the former Woolen Mills dam in West Bend, and Waubeka, Grafton at the chair factory, etc. etc., I decided to do what I do best, and write a little story. Its setting is a fictional combination of real places, but the story runs true...

Change, time, the town, and the river. A parable

Glenton, an affluent suburban village, began its storied history as a small rural village centered on a bend in the Waumukee River. The river flowed over limestone and gravel, and exposed bedrock and boulders created natural little rapids. People were attracted to the town, and it began to grow. At dusk, local citizens and farm laborers would often fish the river for its smallmouth bass and walleye, and take a few fish home for supper. A local carpenter built affordable wooden canoes, and sold them to the villagers for river recreation. On Sundays after church, whole families held picnics along the river while the children hunted crayfish and caught tadpoles.

Then in the 1920s, a grain company constructed a mill along the river, and a dam was built in order to form a millpond. Some citizens complained to the village, and stated that the river in its natural state was an asset to the community and the fishing and outdoor activities would suffer. Progress, jobs, and tax base however, were deemed more important.

In time the bass and walleye went away, but the people no longer noticed. They began to see the carp in the impoundment as a normal state of affairs. People fed them white bread along with the ducks and geese.


Over the years, Glenton changed. The rural town situated near a large city became a haven of affluent and successful suburbanites. Old ford pickup trucks and battered country squires were replaced by SUVs. Victorian homes were crowded by new condo developments along the river, and new restaurants and trendy shops followed the growing affluence. The citizens commuted to work in the city, but enjoyed suburban comfort and safety. More and more, they became disconnected with the natural world, and began to think of the impoundment or pond as the actual river itself. Nobody living could remember an un-dammed river in Glenton, or what it looked like. It only existed in photos in the county historical society. Children no longer haunted the river in summer, being too busy with organized sports and video games.


But, rivers and time have a way of making dust of man’s best efforts to tame nature, and the dam began to decay.

Fish passage issues and safety concerns caused the state regulatory agency to issue a removal or upgrade order, and the costs of replacing the dam were astronomical. The village decided to hold a public hearing regarding the dam and its future. People crowded the little grade-school cafeteria one fall evening to express their concerns.
The newer members of the community and owners of condos and properties abutting the river worried about their property values declining.

Others spoke of mud flats and wondered what the river would look like if the dam were removed.

They worried about lost fishing opportunities, although nobody could remember the last time anyone actually caught a fish in the impoundment. People worried aloud that “They were trying to take away our river.” Many residents expressed the view that the dam and waterfall along with the pond were aesthetically valuable to the community, and that they would have no reason to live in the town if the pond went away. A sense of communal fear of change gripped the people of Glenton.

Older town dwellers spoke about the times they went swimming in the pond back in WWII, and others mourned the possible loss of still water boating. The state regulatory agency was vilified, and people cried “Not in my back yard!”

A single elderly man addressed the board and admonished the citizens. “You are afraid of change,” he said. “You are afraid of losing something, but what will happen here if the dam is removed is that we will all trade one asset for another. A river will run through town, not a still water pond. We are ignorant of what the river will look like in the future, so we grab hold of what we have and hold on for dear life, even if what we have now is but a shadow of what we could have if the dam is removed. Think with your heads, and not your hearts.”

The village board weighed the decision before them carefully, and after heated deliberation, decided that the cost of reconstructing and maintaining the dam was prohibitive. Contractors began to drain the impoundment pond and extract the silt deposited over the years. One-day large construction equipment showed up by the river, and while the villagers watched, the dam was slowly demolished.

At first, everyone agreed that the river without the dam looked terrible, but in no time the river found its original channel and began moving the silt and creating oxygenated riffles. Aquatic insects returned, and along with them the bass and walleye. Herons and kingfishers multiplied, and bald eagles were spotted.
The gravel bars and mud flats exposed by the newly free river began to bloom with wildflowers and prairie grasses.
To everyone’s surprise, property values actually went up, as the new free-flowing river became an attraction and asset again. The ducks were still there, munching on aquatic vegetation instead of wonderbread, and looking healthier for it. People still picnicked by the river, but now they no longer had to worry about the smell of algae spoiling their sandwiches. Instead, a clean crisp water smell pervaded the park along the river. Children began to explore the waters, and crayfish were again prized.

The most vocal supporters of the dam were quiet, but in time, even they had to agree that a free-flowing river was a greater asset to the community than the warm water pond the dam had created.
The head of the local business association, himself a fervent dam supporter, was seen from time to time down by the river with an old bamboo fly-rod.

Time flowed by like the river itself, and people grew up along the newly restored river like their ancestors before them, fishing, boating and enjoying the swoops of swallows and cedar-waxwings over the river every evening. In time, the dam was long forgotten, and the village board, looking to attract tourists, changed the slogan of the community to “Glenton, where the river runs free.”

Estabrook Dam removal: A call to action

Hijacking this literary flyfishing site is necessary sometimes. This is one of those times.
An urgent call to action to all concerned:
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Dear fellow anglers, A vote will be taking place shortly regarding the future of the Estabrook Park Dam on the Milwaukee River by the committee of Parks, Energy and the Environment of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

Please join the Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Sierra Club Great Waters Group, Trout Unlimited-Southeast Wisconsin Chapter, and Milwaukee Steelheaders in calling for the removal of this dam.

The impoundment created by the dam creates an artificial pool of stagnant water, degrades fish habitat, prevents fish migration, warms the water, lowers dissolved oxygen levels, and allows sediment accumulation. The sediments are also full of toxic PCBs. The removal of the dam would greatly improve water quality and fishing opportunities for us.

Unfortunately, we are opposed by a highly organized group of homeowners along the river upstream of the dam, who are concerned with the loss of the impoundment which they refer to as “The largest inland lake in Milwaukee County.”

Please help us in these efforts to advocate for the removal of the Estabrook Dam. Email, call, and or write to the members of the County committee of Parks, Energy and the Environment, and tell them you support dam removal. If you are an out of state angler, and fish our river, all the better. The parties involved need to understand that this is not a simple local issue, and that the decision they make will effect anglers, nature lovers, boaters, and others who use the river for recreation.

I drafted a simple letter that follows below. Feel free to copy and paste it to form the body of your email or letter. Also feel free to add your perspectives and wording to your request to the supervisors. The few minutes it will take to send an email, call, or letter will be of enormous importance in helping to restore this vital natural resource, and improve your angling experience. Thanking you in advance, and yours in service to the river,

Erik F. Helm


Here is the list of County Supervisors on the committee:

_____________________________________________

Parks, Energy and Environment - Committee Members

Gerry Broderick, Chair
414 278-4237
Gerry.Broderick@milwcnty.com

Joe Sanfelippo, Vice Chair
414 278-4247
Joe.Sanfelippo@milwcnty.com

Elizabeth Coggs
414 278-4265
Elizabeth.Coggs@milwcnty.com

Marina Dimitrijevic
414 278-4232
Marina.Dimitrijevic@milwcnty.com

Joseph Rice
414 278-4243
Joseph.Rice@milwcnty.com

Chris Larson
414 278-4252
Chris.Larson@milwcnty.com

Theodore Lipscomb
414 278-4257
Theodore.Lipscomb@milwcnty.com

All of the supervisors have the same mailing address at:
MILWAUKEE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Milwaukee County Courthouse
901 North 9th Street, RM 201
Milwaukee, WI 53233
Phone: 414-278-4222 Fax: 414-223-1380

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Sample email/letter to send:


Dear Milwaukee County Supervisor:
As a sports fisher of the Milwaukee River I call on the Milwaukee County Board, and the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Standing Committee on Parks, Energy, and Environment to take the following actions:

1. Vote to NOT fund repairs of the Estabrook Park dam.
2. Do advocate for the removal of the Estabrook Park dam.
3. Do advocate for the restoration and cleanup of the Milwaukee River from the current Estabrook Park dam location to Kletch Park.

I would like to see the restoration of the wild aspect of this natural river area for current and future generations, and to improve water quality, remove contaminated sediments, remove barriers to fish passage, improve fisheries, minimize flooding, and improve public access to this urban natural resource.

I call for this so that all persons enjoying the river or engaging in recreational activities such as canoeing, kayaking, fishing, or hiking along the river’s edge will have an improved experience in this urban park environment. I believe that the ecological health restored by a free flowing river is of higher long-term value than maintaining the current impoundment created by the dam. As a fisherman, I contribute license revenue to the state of Wisconsin, and to the revenue of the county, city, and state in the form of fees, and patronizing local businesses.
The Milwaukee River is a wonderful asset to the community, and the removal of the North Avenue Dam helped create a fishery that I and many others enjoy.

I urge you to vote for the removal of the Estabrook Dam, which in my view would greatly contribute to our recreational experience.

Signed:

Name:
Full Address:

My letter to the editors of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal regarding the removal of the Estabrook Dam on our Milwaukee River

I wrote this letter as a rebuttal to a deceptive and disingenuous letter written on behalf of property owners eager to protect a contaminated impoundment.

The original letter to the editor can be found here.
Read it first, then my rebuttal.


Removal of the Estabrook Dam will benefit us all
By Erik Helm

The removal of the dam on the Milwaukee River at Estabrook Park, and its restoration to a free-flowing state will benefit us all with a natural asset, cleaner water, and increased recreational opportunities, but if one reads the recent letter to the Journal Sentinal by Glen Goebel of the Milwaukee River Preservation Association (MRPA) one might think otherwise.

The MRPA has some legitimate concerns, mainly regarding the river levels adjoining their properties, flood control, and property values, most which have already been addressed, but if the letter represents their opinion, they seem to have to cloak their real concerns with obfuscation. At the end of the letter Mr. Goebel writes “Don’t be fooled by selective science…” which sounds suspiciously like “Don’t let the facts confuse you.”

Uninformed citizens reading this letter would be led to believe that dams and their resulting impoundments lead to cleaner water, that the silt and toxic PCB filled ‘lake’ upstream of the dam constitutes “A beautiful historical and recreational gem”, that the removal of the North Avenue and other dams led to the outbreak of cryptosporidium and algae blooms in Lake Michigan, or that free-flowing water contributes to pollution by moving and scouring sediment.

On the contrary, free-flowing rivers cleanse themselves. The removal of the North Avenue Dam led to the river speeding up, scouring and cleaning the sediment, creating riffles and pools and natural river-flow structures. This led directly to the emergence of aquatic insect life, and a change in fish population from rough species such as carp to an explosion of clean water gamefish. With the fish came fish-eating birds such as herons, osprey, and mergansers, a true indication of cleaner water. The river in this stretch became a recreational and natural asset with the removal of a single dam. Visit the river in the heart of the city at Hubbard Park, where it flows unobstructed and free, and be amazed at the treasure we now enjoy. This is what awaits us upstream of the Estabrook Dam if it is removed.

The impoundment created by the dam, by comparison, creates an artificial pool of stagnant water, degrades fish habitat, warms the water, lowers dissolved oxygen levels, and allows sediment accumulation. Full of highly toxic PCBs, the sediments must be removed, a plan the Wisconsin DNR has in place. This toxic ‘lake’ which dates back to the 1930s was intended for recreation, but the ladies with parasols rowing boats in Lincoln Park disappeared long ago. Where they docked their rowboats sits a smelly mud flat on which nothing will grow. Dam removal and cleanup would lead to increased park area and usability here.

The implication that the removal of dams on the river contributed to or caused cryptosporidium outbreaks and algae blooms in Lake Michigan is a simple scare tactic, and disingenuous. Cryptosporidium outbreaks have been traced to heavy rains, sewer overflows, and agricultural runoff, while the algae bloom is due to changing lake conditions.

Finally there is the Estabrook Dam itself; an aging structure badly in need of repair and constant maintenance, which is a financial drain on the county and the taxpayers. It is estimated that repairs will exceed 1.3 million of our tax dollars. The PCB laden sediment must be removed according to remediation plans already written. Why not restore the river in the process instead of throwing good money after bad trying to repair and maintain a dam that’s purpose has long ago faded away? The financial costs for removal need not be born entirely by taxpayers. Funds are available from federal and state sources. Otherwise, the maintenance costs of the crumbling dam will be born by county taxpayers in perpetuity.

The special interests of the few residents concerned with motor boating and property values, and seemingly deaf to the reassurances of the Wisconsin DNR and other experts, should not outweigh the long-term benefits to the entire community of an unobstructed and free-flowing river. A river, which in places has already returned to its native beauty due to a single dam removal.

Let us all enjoy the benefits of a clean free-flowing river gracing our urban community. Call your County Supervisor and tell them that you support removal of the Estabrook Dam.

Erik Helm is a life-long Milwaukee County resident, writer, and concerned taxpayer. He lives in Shorewood.