Franklin Dam on the Sheboygan River, Wisconsin

The River System and Dam Background

The Sheboygan River Watershed is 190 square miles and includes about 128 miles of streams. Land use in the watershed is primarily agriculture, but the downstream-most reaches are entirely urbanized. The Franklin Dam is the fifth of ten dams from the headwaters to the river's mouth at the Lake Michigan shoreline. Water quality is described as good in the headwaters, and fair, poor to very poor in the lower reaches of the river. Removal of the Franklin Dam will restore 10 miles of free flowing river. The closest dams are about 7 miles upstream and 3 miles downstream.

The Franklin Dam was originally built as a timber and earth dam in 1851 to service a gristmill operation in the Town of Herman (1996 pop. 1,900). In the 1920s, the dam failed and was replaced as a concrete structure. It served as an energy source for the local gristmill until 1962. The Franklin Volunteer Fire Department took ownership of the structure in the 1970s to obtain easy access to a water source for firefighting. The Fire Department is planning to construct a high capacity well and no longer requires the impoundment. The dam does not provide any flood control.

Impact of Dam on River System

The 32 surface-acre impoundment has poor water quality and is inhabited predominantly by carp, bullheads and suckers. The bottom of the impoundment consists mostly of soft sediment, while upstream of the impounded reach the bottom is composed of cobble, gravel and some soft sediment. Removal of the dam would restore about 10 miles of the Sheboygan River to free-flowing condition. The dam structure has provided a barrier to fish and other aquatic animals' movement. The slowing of the river, due to the dam, has decreased dissolved oxygen availability and degraded water quality and habitat potential. Carp, turbid water and siltation in the impoundment pose a long-term management problem. During environmental impact studies, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) found relict shells of two state threatened freshwater mussel species upstream of the dam, but no live animals were observed. These species likely died out due to loss of habitat and decreased water quality.

The Removal / Restoration Decision and Process

Decision trigger

A Dam Failure Analysis completed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1988 revealed that the Franklin Dam was undersized and posed a hazard to downstream structures. In 1993, the WDNR issued an order to the dam owner to upgrade the dam's spillway capacity, and other requirements. The dam owner notified the WDNR that they were unable to finance the costly repairs. The Fire Department contacted the Town of Herman, Sheboygan County and the WDNR about taking ownership of the dam, but all three entities declined.

Decision-making process

In 1998, the WDNR met with local residents at the Herman Town Hall to notify them that the dam owner was seriously considering dam abandonment. The meeting included discussions about the dam abandonment procedure, as well as the process for any person or municipality to take ownership of the dam. At this time, the WDNR stated that if no one took ownership, it was very likely that the WDNR would remove the dam.

In 1999, another meeting was held between the WDNR and the Fire Department to discuss the dam abandonment procedure. The Fire Department submitted papers necessary to pursue dam abandonment. The WDNR then began the process of completing the Environmental Analysis and the Decision on the Need for an Environmental Impact Statement (i.e., Environmental Assessment) that was required for the dam's abandonment and removal.

A couple of weeks before the public meeting to discuss the draft Environmental Assessment, two boards on the dam broke during a 'sunny day' dam failure and other rotted boards were removed due to safety concerns. While the dam failure was not an emergency situation it re-emphasized the poor condition of the dam structure and the threat to public safety.

The well-attended public meeting on the Environmental Assessment provided an opportunity for concerned citizens to learn more about the removal process. One attendee raised an 11th hour solution to keeping the dam - forming a lake district that would take ownership of and repair the structure. The Fire Department said that residents had known for several years that they were looking for a new dam owner, but a lake district had never been formed. A couple of months later, the lake district idea was presented to the community in a survey put together by those who wanted to keep the dam. Sixty percent of the respondents said they would not support lake district formation, which would include an annual property tax increase of about $75 for a $100,000 home.

Residents eventually came to accept that the dam would be removed, but were concerned that the exposed land should not be 'abandoned' and left to grow wild, but would be restored. In this dam ownership situation, the Fire Department owned the flowed lands that would be exposed through dam removal. To address the community's concerns about restoration of the exposed lands (the 'mudflats') the WDNR and the Fire Department entered into a cooperative restoration project agreement, specifying the restoration activities that would take place in the former impoundment area, including timeframes. Once the restoration project is completed the Fire Department plans to quit claim their deeds to the former impoundment lands to the adjacent riparian land owners.

In October 2000, a 50-foot long section of Franklin Dam was removed to draw down the impoundment and stabilize exposed sediment. The complete structural removal took place in May 2001. (Wisconsin DNR photo)

Funding information

As of April 2001 the structural removal of the Franklin Dam is estimated to be $50,000. This is down from an original estimate of $80,000 - $90,000. WDNR operations staff will carry out much of the work. The Wisconsin Abandoned Dam Fund will cover most of the structural dam removal costs. Also as of April 2001 the post-dam removal restoration work, as currently planned, is estimated to cost $50,000. This is down from an original estimate of $100,000. All of the restoration work will be funded through two grants from the Great Lakes Protection Fund. One grant of $50,000 was previously earmarked for WDNR activities in Sheboygan County in general. The second $50,000 was obtained by a joint River Alliance of Wisconsin and Trout Unlimited project proposal.

Restoration Goals

The goals of this project are: to restore about 10 miles of the Sheboygan River to free-flowing condition, to restore the original floodplain in the impoundment area, and to restore natural and appealing green space in the Town of Herman. These efforts will demonstrate the value of selective dam removal from the resource and community perspective.

The positive change in water flow, temperature and dissolved oxygen levels through dam removal will create habitat suitable for smallmouth bass, northern pike and rock bass. The fish community will change from one that prefers soft sediment habitat to one that prefers flowing water and stable, rocky substrate. In general, a more diverse fish community will result from the restoration project. The mussel community is also expected to improve as host fish regain their ability to move up and downstream. Removal of the dam will facilitate fish movement between spawning, summer and winter habitat.

An overall increase in riparian wetlands will improve and increase the amount of accessible fish spawning and nursery habitat. The impoundment provides little aquatic vegetation to benefit wildlife as a food source or for nesting sites. Restoration of riparian wetlands and wet prairies within the former impoundment area will provide a greater variety of food and habitat options. This project is likely to improve habitat for waterfowl and other species, including herons and cranes. This type of wetland restoration is particularly valuable in southeastern Wisconsin, since approximately 75 percent of the wetland environments originally present have been destroyed since European colonization.

Immediate restoration plans

A 50-foot section of the dam (including the gated section) was removed in October 2000 in order to draw down the impoundment and stabilize exposed sediments prior to complete structural removal. The full removal of the structure, impoundment restoration and relocation of the river took place beginning in May 2001. At this time, the remaining concrete dam structure was removed and the dam rubble was used to fill in a portion of the abandoned mill raceway. Stabilization and sculpting of the west bank of the river also took place at this time. Some soft sediment immediately upstream of the dam was removed and used elsewhere at the site. This sediment was removed in preparation for the restoration of the natural stream channel, which took place after the complete structural removal. Bioengineering applications were used to stabilize slopes and aggressive plantings were used to provide solid root structure for holding soil and preventing streambank erosion. Once the river has found its natural course along the west bank, the east bank and terrace areas were restored using remaining dam fill material and excavated floodplain soil. This soil was also used to cap the dam rubble in the abandoned mill raceway.

Future efforts planned

Portions of the floodplain area were aggressively planted with native grasses, shrubs and trees. By the end of summer 2001, much of the vegetation was well established. Long-term maintenance of the project site will include spot repairs, additional plantings and tending to trees and shrubs to prevent excessive browsing by deer and rodents. Removal of the dam was expected to cause some short-term sediment-related impacts downstream, including both fine and coarse sediment transport. The long-term benefits of restoring a naturally functioning river are expected to outweigh these short-term impacts. A year following the complete removal of the dam, the site will be reviewed by WDNR fisheries biologists to determine if in-stream habitat structures should be installed to improve fish habitat. Pending the specifics of land transfers to riparian property owners, a canoe access path may be created from the makeshift road that workers use to access the dam site.

Significance

The Franklin Dam is one of ten dams on the Sheboygan River. The next downstream dam is in the beginning stages of consideration for removal. The cumulative impacts of similar projects would have increasingly beneficial effects on aquatic habitat and water quality in the Sheboygan River. However, the individual fate of each dam in Wisconsin is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The removal of the Franklin Dam will not directly affect the decision making process for any other dams.

This restoration project is one of many underway in the Sheboygan River watershed, and represents a keen awareness regarding natural resource issues by local citizens, conservation organizations, city and county governments and the WDNR. In a time when many communities are expanding with little regard to the environment and preservation of green corridors, people in Sheboygan County are taking a proactive approach to environmental stewardship. Well planned restoration projects, such as the Franklin Dam removal, present valuable educational opportunities and play a key role in encouraging environmental awareness. It also represents the benefits of collaborative restoration projects involving pubic and private stakeholders.

Lessons Learned

As with many dam removals, communication with the affected community could be improved upon. Conscious implementation of a public involvement and educational component could have helped allay fears and concerns earlier than during later stages of the decision. Some members of the community felt they had not been made aware of the seriousness of the situation until the public meeting for the Environmental Assessment. At that time, some residents felt the decision to remove the dam had already been made and they had no time to find an alternative solution. The WDNR did hold at least two previous informal meetings with the dam owner and some residents, but it appears these meetings did not provide enough opportunity for general public concerns. However, many of the technical answers would not have been available until after the Environmental Assessment was completed, and some community members may have interpreted the lack of technical answers early in the process negatively. One overall lesson: the more information provided to the community throughout the process, the better.

The Franklin Dam is being removed in three phases. The boards of the emergency spillway were removed in 1999 due to their failure. A 50-foot portion of the dam was removed in October 2000. The remainder of the dam was removed in May 2001. The phased actions created anxiety in the community and some level of distrust of the WDNR staff. It also greatly delayed the establishment of vegetation on exposed floodplain soils, further leading to additional loss of sediment that could have been stabilized. The lesson learned is that it is important to carefully plan the removal action to maximize quick establishment of vegetation on exposed soils and reduce sediment loss downstream. Many experiences in Wisconsin indicate that well planned, immediate removal of small dams appears to be more beneficial to the environment than phased removals, given appropriate site characteristics.