Don Crosby
Published on: March 29, 2019 | Last Updated: March 29, 2019 5:25 PM EDT
Owen Sound Sun Times
Removal of part of the Truax Dam is set to take place in late summer, engineer Jeff Graham said during a public meeting Tuesday.
In a presentation attended by about two dozen people, Graham said the dam is old , it’s too far gone to benefit from expensive repairs and there is really no advantage to rebuilding it at a huge cost. There are environmental benefits to removing it and its removal will reduce safety hazards. And removal of the east portion would minimize ice accumulation.
Moorefield Construction was the lowest bidder for tenders last fall at $550,000. The company has agreed to hold its bid until the removal takes place.
Bruce Power has committed $700,000 toward the removal of the east wing of the dam and related costs. It has also promised an additional $800,000 over the next 10 years to help restore fish habitat above and below the dam increase the number of fish moving down the river toward Lake Huron.
The plan calls for removal of the east arm (about 60 feet) but leave the west part intact where a beach area made up of layers of stone and sand would be constructed for safe public use.
Graham said there is a provisional plan to install a stairway on the western portion of the dam to allow people who want to access the river to safely get down to the water’s edge.
“The main idea of the stairway is for people who are up on the beach or at a higher level and want to get down to the water to launch their canoe or kayak or just get down to the water, even to swim or fish. They can walk down the stairs safely as opposed to trying to walk down the large armour stone which to me is not a safe way to go,” he said.
Graham said the dam is currently a barrier to most fish species other than trout and salmon, which are the only species that can use the fish ladder on the east side of the river. The fishway is only useable once the water flow is up around 30 cubic centimetre per second . “And if there a real flood (the fish) will probably never find it.”
“The removal of the east portion of the dam will facilitate the movement up and down stream of all fish species just like they did before the dam was built,” said Graham.
Graham also noted that removal of the eastern portion of the dam would facilitate movement of ice out of the head pond above the dam.
“If the dam is removed we’re always going to have current going through there, the ice will not form in the river; any ice that forms from points further upstream will float in small pieces through town. So there should be a net improvement of ice conditions in Walkerton,” he said.
Graham said the bottom of the head pond is quite clean of silt and other debris and he doesn’t expect movement of silt and mud when the portion of the dam is released
“There should be no batch release of silt or mud that comes down from the dam because there is no silt or mud stored above the dam.”
Graham said he is just waiting for SVCA to sign off on the proposal which has received approval from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Brockton council has given preliminary approval for the project. A meeting with council on Tuesday April 9 is expected to complete the approval process.
