NILES â The old Pucker Street hydroelectric dam on the Dowagiac River is all gone, except for a retaining wall that contractors will remove this year. Demolition crews left by early March, and now crews must finish removing sediment, shift the river slightly to the west at the site and build a rock-strewn âriffleâ to improve fish habitat, the cityâs utilities manager, Jeff Dunlap, said.
If weather cooperates, he said, the city hopes to finish the nearly $12.5 million project by the end of the year.
The damâs removal had begun in September 2019 after several years of planning, pegged as critical since the aging structure, at some 90 years old, hadnât been used for more than 20 years and was a safety hazard. The opened river will allow fish species like steelhead, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, brown trout, white suckers, and walleye to finally reach upstream to 159 miles of river and tributaries, according to the Southwest Michigan Planning Commissi