I'm concerned about the Dam removal project. Here is what Wiki says about the Hoffman Dam.
"Hoffman Dam, also known as Lyons Dam is a gravity dam. Its height is 6 feet with a length of 240 feet. Its capacity is 156 acre feet. Normal storage is 156 acre feet."
My questions are: If the dam is removed or notched and this 156 acre feet of water goes on down the river, what will be the effect on the river above the dam? How much will it be reduced in width and depth? Will Coonley Bay exist? How wide will the river be, and how wide will the exposed banks be and what will they be like? I took pictures today all along the river from 26th Street to the Little (Weir) Dam which is slated for total removal. The banks all along are mostly made of rubble - broken concrete, brick, etc., and will that all be exposed. Surely, the water level will drop - but who knows how much?
Will we be left with a mere trickle (comparatively) in times of low water? Remember, the Indians used to walk across right upstream of the Little Dam. Now, right today, there is a large pile of rubble sticking out of the water just below Hoffman Dam. When it is removed, what will we be looking at? Will there be wide, muddy banks full of dead trees carried there in time of flood? Will we have mud flats or broad swampy banks of visible rubble? When the river rises and inundates these areas - as it surely must - will it recede and leave stagnant pools to breed mosquitos? Will you be able to cross these muddy, marshy banks to get to the river?
What will happen to the purportedly toxic material that is supposed to be behind the dam, and is probably now covered by silt? Will this be removed and trucked away? Will the broad river view we now have at the Scout Cabin be gone? Does anyone know, for sure, what the river will be like when this transpires?
How will this help flood control? Presumably the same amount of water will flow into the river at time of storms, melting or flood. Won't the river rise to the same height it does now? What will the river be like along Maplewood? These, and many more questions need to be looked at before this monumental change to our familiar environment goes forward.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but all of the above should be clearly and irrefutably explained to the residents before we destroy something that is irreplaceable. The Corps of Engineers has not been infallible in the past, and the river as we know it is the thing that makes Riverside what it is.
I have not heard any explanation of how, in times of storms, less water will flow into the river. I believe that if the same amount of water enters the river, it will rise just as it did before. When it overtops the walls or berm that contain it, it will flood, just as it does now. before. How will removing these dams change that situation? Answers please? Thank you.
