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An underwater dam in the Willamette River between Eugene and Springfield has long posed a danger to river users, trapping people in powerful currents while governments stalled on action. The city of Eugene has now set a timeline for a feasibility study.
An underwater dam in the Willamette River between Eugene and Springfield has trapped people in powerful currents — and kept local governments in a cycle of inaction — for years. That cycle may now be breaking.
Calling it a safety hazard, the city of Eugene has launched and released a timeline for a “Millrace Lowhead Dam Feasibility Study.” The study will help guide agencies about what they should do to address the low-head dam near the Interstate 5 bridge.
Low-head dams are derelict infrastructure left as submerged barriers, known for creating recirculating currents that can overturn boats and trap even experienced paddlers.
Survey work on the study begins in June, followed by design workshops in July. A final report is scheduled for November.
Marion Suitor Barnes, spokesperson for Eugene Public Works, told Lookout Eugene-Springfield in July that the city is not taking responsibility for the dam, but that it has set aside $50,000 in its budget to partially fund a feasibility study to investigate removal of the structure.
“Every expectation is that the future of the dam structure will be decided by a group of regional agencies,” Barnes said.
The official timeline for the study comes after calls for action from safety advocates and local publications, including Lookout Eugene-Springfield, reporting on near drownings and examining jurisdiction questions surrounding the dam.
The low-head dam emerged more than a century ago in the form of a beaver-like heap of brush, rock and timber, later rebuilt in concrete slabs by the now-shuttered Chambers Power Co.
The company had applied for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, but that documentation has since been lost, according to an architectural historian who researched the dam’s origins and how that history might shape accountability today.
No government agency has been willing to accept jurisdiction over the low-head dam or shoulder the costs of it. But governments are still paying for it through resource-intensive river rescues that strain emergency responders.
Last year, Eugene Springfield Fire responded to five rescues at the dam over spring and summer months.
That’s about 10% of the roughly 50 water rescue calls the agency handles each year.
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