BATAVIA, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Batavia City Council has approved an engineering study that may lead to the replacement of a dam on the Fox River.
The crumbling concrete low head dam is 112 years old and has been a topic of discussion for about 20 years.
The plan is to study replacing the dam with a lower, safer dam that would maintain the water level in an adjacent pond and would create a whitewater passage for kayakers.
"It is slowly chipping away and we're gonna wake up one day and our worst nightmare will come true- is that it will be a full breach and then we will take several years as we know how slow government is to decide how we're gonna fix the problem," City Council member Dan Chanzit said.
The cost of the project is estimated at about $13 million. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers will have the final say.
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