Argo Dam issue takes next step toward resolution

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Whether the Argo Dam stays or goes within the next year, it's a bit cleaner today after a few dozen volunteers cleared out the millrace area last weekend.

The Pioneer Rowing Club marshaled 40-50 volunteers between student athletes, parents and other supporters to help clear the overgrown area of trash and invasive plants while working with the city's Natural Area Preservation Group.

"We take the stewardship of the pond and river area very seriously," says Jeff DeBoer, president of the Pioneer Rowing Club Board of Directors. The group helps the rowing teams for Pioneer and Huron high schools, which row on the Argo Pond section of the Huron River just north of Argo Dam next to North Main Street, and is the major proponent for saving the dam.

It was the latest step in resolving the dam issue, which has proven quite controversial over the last year, dividing Ann Arbor into camps of those who want to remove the 90-year-old dam and those who want it saved. The clean up of the dam area was mandated by the state, along with the closing of the mill race.

It will reopen in May for the summer before closing again when the weather turns cold, also recently mandated by the state. A decision has not been made on removing the bridge, preserving the status quo.

"The dam is staying," DeBoer says.

That appears to be the situation for the time being as city leaders continue to kick the can down the road of what to do with it. A city-commissioned study has said the dam embankment is not in danger of failing, but there is still the question of how saturated it has become and whether that will compromise its integrity.

Most, if not all, of the dam's toe drains need to be rebuilt to help alleviate saturation, a project that could cost between $300,000-$500,000. Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, which is advocating removal of the dam, says that big-ticket maintenance will keep removal on the table as an option.

"Next year they will either fix the toe drains or remove the dam," Rubin says. "The issue is not going to go away."

Source: Jeff DeBoer, president of the Pioneer Rowing Club Board of Directors and Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council
Writer: Jon Zemke