A consultant has been hired to review the best way to remove a low-head dam and improve the area around it at an eastern Iowa park.
DNR River Programs Coordinator Nate Hoogeveen says the Palisades Kepler State Park gets a lot of visitors. “It’s in an urbanized corridor, you know, basically along the Iowa City cedar Cedar Rapids area. And we also have some extremely important spawning habitats, for sturgeon, both Lake and shovelnose sturgeon, as well as paddlefish,” he says.
Hoogeveen says they need to be careful as they remove the dam and create rapids in the area. “We want to keep very much in mind that this is one of the state’s most important biological areas that has impacts much greater than just the spot in the river. It affects the whole Cedar River system, which is one of our largest systems in the state,” he says.
Hoogeveen says local law enforcement and conservation officers also have safety concerns, as there is a breach in part of the dam. “In the breach area, the water is extremely swift. There’s a long sand bar, which is kind of acts like an island sometimes, but also people can walk to it and like to recreate along the fast-flowing river, and sometimes kids just get swept off in that area,” Hoogeveen says. The Natural Resources Commission approved a contract at their recent meeting of $318,000 with Stantec Consulting of Cincinnati, Ohio. The company will develop a project plan to keep the recreation aspects of the area, while also protecting the important fish spawning areas.
Hoogeveen says the eventual project could cost more than two million dollars.