The Estabrook Dam Conundrum
by Ken Leinbach, Executive Director
Wow! Here I am, an ecologist, living for almost 14 years within an easy bike ride of the Milwaukee River impoundment above theEstabrook Park dam and I never even thoughtabout it! I’ve caught frogs with my kids in these waters, I led my first Urban Ecology Center canoe trip (1998) in borrowed canoes, dodging golf balls from nearby Lincoln Park, I watched with great fascination as the flood of 1998 swallowed up the dam almost entirely and I laughed with my son as we got totally drenched as we succeeded in catching, by hand, a 20-inch red horse sucker — one of hundreds migrating up the rapids just below the dam. Yet somehow I missed the ecological havoc that we people have been wrecking on this fragile ecosystem. You just cannot have a healthy ecosystem where you annually turn a river into a lake and then into a river again — and we’ve been doing this for over 75 years!
The Estabrook dam was built in the 1930s, in part for flood control and in part to create a summertime stillwater recreation area. When it was built, river ecology was not even a concept. At the time, it made perfect sense to fill the impoundment in spring and release the water every fall to avoid the pressures created by winter ice. This has been the management plan ever since, however during this time we have learned a lot. First off, dams stop sediments or dirt from the land. Prior to human settlement, soil systems were quite stable … heavy spring rains flowed over deep rooted prairies and strong healthy forests and picked up very little soil along the way. The plowing of fields with short-rooted crops coupled with significant “soil stirring” development projects means that today’s floods carry much more sediment than a century ago. An impoundment created today, compared to the past, fills up at an extremely rapid rate. Dams also stop waterborne pollutants that mix with the sediments. Today some of the most toxic soils in Milwaukee (I mean really bad stuff) lie beneath the Estabrook impoundment. Finally, many plants, fish, frogs, crayfish, macroinvertebrates (bugs that live in the water) and micro-organisms at the bottom of the food chain, cannot adequately adapt to a summer lake and a winter river. Some do exist, but not as they should. Habitats are scoured, frozen or desicated as a result of these seasonal draw-downs. It is tragic! And I never thought about it until a recent dam inspection alerted us all to the fact that the dam was deteriorating and either needs millions of dollars of repair work or millions of dollars to take it down.
Whew, glad I’m not the one having to make that decision … but wait a minute! If not me, then who? Currently it is in the hands of our duly elected county supervisors for whom I have nothing but respect, but will they consider the ecology of this important waterway? I sure hope so. If there is anything I hope we have learned over the past century it is that everything is connected to everything else. A healthy life-sustaining waterway means clean water, a productive fishery, vibrant riparian land, healthy parks, positive recreation, which in turn connects to lifestyle satisfaction and area job retention, etc. Thus, we must keep a long-term healthy ecosystem at the forefront of whatever decision is made. This is a new way of thinking, but it is exactly this kind of new way of thinking that must prevail if we intend to keep this planet vibrant and life sustaining. Our current management of the Estabrook impoundment does not cut it. So what to do?
Should we repair the dam and manage the impoundment so it stays as a permanent ecologically sound “lake” year round? Or should we remove the dam entirely, letting the river run free?
As the Executive Director of the Urban Ecology Center, I have received an exceptionally high number of calls asking our opinion about what to do. As a result of this community outpouring, because of the thousands of students we bring to the river each year and because of close friendships I have with home owners who live on the impoundment I have looked very closely at this issue. Over 100 people spoke at the March 24th public listening session. Most had strong opinions often opposing — some were well-informed, many were based solely on emotion. All were valid. I listened. At that point, I was not prepared to take a position and said as much at the meeting. However, since then I have talked with research scientists, homeowners, engineers, hydrologists, fish experts, etc. I’ve looked into fish ladders and hydro-electric options. I now feel that I have an informed opinion to share; however there is not room here to properly share it. So, now that I have gotten your attention, please check our website at www.urbanecologycenter.org and click the Estabrook Dam icon. Here you will find my letter to the county supervisors along with some other informative material.
It’s an exciting time to be alive. The decisions we make today, perhaps more than any era before us, will have a dramatic impact on future generations. The Estabrook impoundment decision is just one small example of this. Let’s make sure we get it right.
