Dam removal to yield fast-flowing stream
Author: Wade Rawlins; Staff Writer

DURHAM -- The Pleasant Green Dam gives the Eno River two personalities: its languid, deep water upstream and a fast-flowing, boulder strewn river below.

A plan to remove the deteriorating 89-year-old concrete dam would lower the water level and return a 1.5-mile stretch of impounded water to its former self, a shallow, fast-flowing stream.

It would be the fourth old dam torn down to improve fish migration patterns in Eastern North Carolina since 1997.

Park and wildlife officials say removing the concrete barrier would return the river to its natural state and allow fish and mussels to move freely upriver, expanding the gene pool of some rare species. That's a particular concern with the Eno's endangered mussels, such as the Atlantic pigtoe mussel and yellow lampmussel that depend on migration of fish to ferry their larvae up and down river.

"The biggest gain is the health of the river," said Dave Cook, supervisor of the Eno River State Park. "Rivers do better when they don't have dams in their way. We have species that we are concerned about. ... We're trying to eliminate where man has altered the habitat."

But some neighbors of the Eno aren't eager to see the slow, meandering river that borders their back yards disappear.

"We think it will decrease the value of our property," said Rebekah Burks of Orange County. "We think once the water drains out, we will have a big ditch in our back yard."

The Eno -- the name comes from an Indian word meaning "great way" -- rises in Orange County and flows east across Durham County, eventually feeding into Falls Lake. Duke Power Company dammed the Eno in eastern Orange County in 1915 to provide cooling water for a steam power generation plant that stood nearby. That plant was retired in the late 1950s and removed. Only the 122-foot-wide concrete dam remains.

It creates more than a mile of slow-moving, pondlike water that canoeists who love flat water seek out. Pleasant Green Road is the state park's fourth most popular access point to the river. It's the one stretch of the Eno that can always be paddled, no matter the height of the rest of the river.

But a 2001 study determined that the dam will fail eventually if not removed or replaced. The estimated cost of removing the dam is $92,000 to $229,000, far less expensive than replacing it. Engineers' estimates of repairing or replacing the dam range from $300,000 to more than $1 million. Two existing gates are inoperable, and structural weaknesses pose safety and liability issues for the state park.

"The dam, it could last 50 more years, or it could break tomorrow," Cook said. "Nobody knows."

But Cook said it would be irresponsible to let the dam fail.

Some say it won't fail

Ted Williams, a retired industrial hygienist, likes to take his grandchildren canoeing on the smooth water above the dam. He raises cattle and goats on an Orange County farm bordering the river.

"I've been walking on that dam since I was 10 years old," said Williams, 67. "It hasn't changed much. It has always had leaks. It's never going to break and go flooding down to Durham."

Williams said that what bothers him is that no one would consider removing the quaint mill dam at West Point on the Eno, which is part of a Durham city park and does the same thing as the Pleasant Green dam.

Cook said the Eno had a history of 30 mills along its banks, and the mill dam served a historical purpose, powering the last of those mills.

"There are definite benefits to keeping that one," Cook said.

Habitat would expand

Park officials said there is no question that removing Pleasant Green dam will reduce the recreational opportunities for canoeists wanting flat water. But there are similar impounded areas behind the West Point mill dam and the backwaters of Falls Lake.

Mike Wicker, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the dam separated populations of fish and other species that are in low number in the river and effectively stopped mussels from moving upstream.

"They are the type of animals that would do well in the area," Wicker said. "By having it impounded, it's not suitable habitat for mussels and snail."

Removal of the dam would restore 13 miles of the Eno and 42 miles of tributary streams from Pleasant Green Road to the existing Ben Johnson dam in Hillsborough.

Park officials have discussed removal of the dam since 1997. Hugh Heine of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lead agency on the project, said the dam could be removed as soon as this fall.

Neighbors concerned

The board of directors of the Eno River Association, a non-profit group that seeks to protect the river, does not oppose removing the dam, said Lori Olson, executive director.

Another neighbor, Max Isbell, a physician assistant whose house is near the river, said removing the dam would likely mean that his house would not get flooded again. It had 24 inches in the lower level after Hurricane Fran. But like other property owners, Isbell expressed concern about the appearance of the lowered river once the dam is gone.

"We're not totally opposed to the idea of it coming down," Isbell said. "We just have concerns about the state of the river when it comes down and how long it will take it to return to its so-called natural state."

Copyright 2004 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.

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