Dangerous dam gets official warning signs, but much is still unresolved 

After years of close calls, the Willamalane Park and Recreation District posted signs about the “high risk of drowning” at an underwater dam in the Willamette River between Eugene and Springfield, where strong currents have trapped people floating or paddling downstream.

Last summer, Eugene Springfield Fire responded to rescue calls at the dam, including two sisters Lookout Eugene-Springfield spoke with last summer. 

The sisters researched the route before putting in at a boat ramp nearly a quarter-mile upstream of the low-head dam, which creates a powerful hydraulic loop. The only thing that could have prepared them for the danger was a clear warning sign, they said. 

No local government agency has been willing to post one — until now. 

In an email to Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Willamalane spokesperson Whitney Hoshaw said the park and recreation district partnered with other stakeholders — including the city of Eugene, Willamette Riverkeeper and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol — to install signs at three put-in locations.

“The intent is to raise awareness around the safety concerns of the low-head dam,” she said. 

However, the sign does not represent an acceptance of responsibility for the low-head dam or its effects on recreation, she said. The city of Eugene has likewise stopped short of claiming responsibility, even as it moves forward with the “Millrace Lowhead Dam Feasibility Study.”

The low-head dam emerged more than a century ago in the form of a beaver-like heap of brush, rock and timber, and was later rebuilt in concrete slabs by the now-shuttered Chambers Power Co. The company’s absence has created a jurisdictional gray area in a public waterway. 

Some cities, including Bend, have transformed aging and potentially dangerous river infrastructure into recreational assets by redesigning waterways to create controlled whitewater features. 

What is to come for the low-head dam between Eugene and Springfield is still being considered in the city’s report, which will be finalized in November. Survey work wrapped up in May, according to Marion Suitor, a spokesperson for Eugene Public Works. 

Whether the feasibility study will identify a government entity responsible for the dam remains to be seen. Until that happens, there will continue to be risks, said Springfield resident Mike McFarlane, who has spent nearly eight years advocating for safety improvements alongside environmental groups. 

McFarlane first saw the sign during a tour with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department on May 15. His initial reaction was concern over some of the sign’s guidance, including the phrase “when in doubt, get out and scout.” 

He said people who reach the dam may have no practical way to get out of their kayak, raft or float in order to assess the dam’s hazards. He also said the map does not provide a clear route around the dam.

In addition, a QR code on the sign directs users to a website maintained by American Rivers that provides general information about low-head dams rather than site-specific guidance. 

“It’s based on ‘these are not our words, then therefore we’re not responsible,’ which is understandable, except for the fact that the next person that goes over the dam really should have really got a clear understanding of what they’re entering,” he said. “Take responsibility for telling people to, to not go in, and really make it simple as possible.”