The
much-troubled $7 million Harpersfield dam reconstruction project on
the Grand River in Ashtabula County is nearing completion but its
problems continue.
Among the most serious issues has both steelhead anglers and paddle-sports enthusiasts outraged. Construction materials swept away by recent rain showers and natural stream flowage have found their way about 17 miles downstream from the dam. And possibly further downstream.
The Grand River is a state-designated wild and scenic river, and is a popular venue for anglers and other recreational enthusiasts.
However, the project is way behind schedule in a rebuilding that features an enhanced artificial sea lamprey barrier along with shoring up the roughly 120-year-old structure located in Ashtabula County’s Harpersfield Township. At least the in-water sea lamprey control portion of the project is completed, and that major construction is expected to be complete by the early fall of 2020.
The dam has long served as an effective barrier against upstream intrusion by sea lampreys. If the original dam had failed, this action would have allowed the invasive species nearly 1,300 additional miles of main-stem and tributary spawning grounds.
Thus a joint, local, state and federal project began more than 15 months ago on work to prevent the-then aged structure from experiencing a catastrophic failure. Project partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio EPA, and the Ashtabula County Metro Parks.
A partial failure did occur in December 2018 when two $30,000-each coffer dam bladders were sent over the dam as a result of rain-induced high water.
However, the most recent issue has so alarmed some officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that one of them sent an email to various local and state government officials outlining the problem. Included in the electronic document were several attached photographs that highlight the plastic-like trash.
“Yesterday, March 12, I met with (Ohio Division of Wildlife officer assigned to Ashtabula County) Jason Warren..,” said Matthew Smith, Assistant Regional Scenic River Manager for the Natural Resources’ Division of Natural Areas & Preserves in his electronic memo.
Smith wrote that Warren had received reports/complaints from anglers that debris from the Harpersfield Dam project had washed downstream.
Warren went as far downstream as Lake Metroparks’ Indian Point Park along the Leroy Township-Perry Township line, “which is river mile 14.2 and identified white polybags along the river,” Smith says in his email.
With the Harpersfield dame sea lamprey barrier being located at river mile 30.8, the debris field is at least 16.6 miles in length, Smith said also in his email.
“I went with Officer Warren to County Line Road (river mile 26.1) and Hidden Valley Park (river mile 22.4) and was able to identify white poly bags along the stream. There is also black fabric that looks like the material that was placed on the fences to create a visual barrier,” Smith said.
“There is no mistaking that this is from the Harpersfield Project.”
Smith said also that while he and Warren were at Lake Metroparks’ Hidden Valley Park in Madison Township they encountered several kayakers who were taking out their vessels, and who had just paddled downstream from Harpersfield dam.
“They told me that the debris in question was heavily located for the first three- to four-miles downstream from Harpersfield, then sporadic the rest of the way. I would tend to believe that the debris down to at least Indian Point is spread out sporadically,” Smith said.
“It is imperative,” Smith likewise said in his email “that all of this material is removed from the river.”
Smith said too that while he did not travel any further than Indian Point Park, he believes “..it is fair to say that there is a possibility for the debris to be (further) downstream from there.”
Never-the-less, says Smith in his email, “We will need Army Corps of Engineers to identify a plan on how all of this debris will be removed. I can also foresee that as water levels drop that more debris may be identified because it may be under water.”
On that matter, a Corps official suggests this is something he wants to look into at some point, perhaps as early as the week of March 15th.
In an electronic response to Smith, Gabriel Schmidbauer, Project Manager for the Corps’ Buffalo District office, said he is tentatively planning a site visit “for probably next week to address this and other issues.”
“Being good environmental stewards is a high priority for the Corps, so we're working diligently to remove any debris associated with the Harpersfield Dam project,” Schmidbauer said in an email.
One thing is certain, though, that while Smith believes it is the Corps and its contractor’s responsibility to handle this matter, local agencies are not prepared to perform the task.
And the reason for that is due to the temporary reduction of staff brought about by the health-associated state-of-emergency of the cronoavirus threat.
“We are down to only essential personnel right now due to the virus so we are not able to support any clean up efforts,” said Lake Metroparks’ executive director Paul Palagyi in an electronic message also obtained by “Ohio Outdoor News.”
“We would help if we could, it's just not possible right now. That said, we echo (Smith’s) concern and would like to know how this is going to be addressed.”
Palagyi said that when the parks system’s resumes regular staffing, the agency will be cleaning up debris, “but I am also going to instruct our staff to track how much time it takes for them to do the clean up and what they find.”
“I'd like to know who to submit for compensation for this cleanup. If someone littered in our parks, we'd write them a ticket and charge them for the cleanup. I don't see any difference here,” Palagyi said.
Yet for steelhead anglers such as Bob Ashley of Mentor, the entire Harpersfield dam project has proven a bone of contention. The wash of construction-associated silt, mud and all has traveled as far downstream as Fairport Harbor, spoiling what had proven a very good winter steelhead fishing season, Ashley says.
“I have not been able to fish the Grand River like I want to in a couple of weeks,” Ashley said.”I’ve had to spend all my time on the Chagrin River.”
Among the most serious issues has both steelhead anglers and paddle-sports enthusiasts outraged. Construction materials swept away by recent rain showers and natural stream flowage have found their way about 17 miles downstream from the dam. And possibly further downstream.
The Grand River is a state-designated wild and scenic river, and is a popular venue for anglers and other recreational enthusiasts.
However, the project is way behind schedule in a rebuilding that features an enhanced artificial sea lamprey barrier along with shoring up the roughly 120-year-old structure located in Ashtabula County’s Harpersfield Township. At least the in-water sea lamprey control portion of the project is completed, and that major construction is expected to be complete by the early fall of 2020.
The dam has long served as an effective barrier against upstream intrusion by sea lampreys. If the original dam had failed, this action would have allowed the invasive species nearly 1,300 additional miles of main-stem and tributary spawning grounds.
Thus a joint, local, state and federal project began more than 15 months ago on work to prevent the-then aged structure from experiencing a catastrophic failure. Project partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio EPA, and the Ashtabula County Metro Parks.
A partial failure did occur in December 2018 when two $30,000-each coffer dam bladders were sent over the dam as a result of rain-induced high water.
However, the most recent issue has so alarmed some officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that one of them sent an email to various local and state government officials outlining the problem. Included in the electronic document were several attached photographs that highlight the plastic-like trash.
“Yesterday, March 12, I met with (Ohio Division of Wildlife officer assigned to Ashtabula County) Jason Warren..,” said Matthew Smith, Assistant Regional Scenic River Manager for the Natural Resources’ Division of Natural Areas & Preserves in his electronic memo.
Smith wrote that Warren had received reports/complaints from anglers that debris from the Harpersfield Dam project had washed downstream.
Warren went as far downstream as Lake Metroparks’ Indian Point Park along the Leroy Township-Perry Township line, “which is river mile 14.2 and identified white polybags along the river,” Smith says in his email.
With the Harpersfield dame sea lamprey barrier being located at river mile 30.8, the debris field is at least 16.6 miles in length, Smith said also in his email.
“I went with Officer Warren to County Line Road (river mile 26.1) and Hidden Valley Park (river mile 22.4) and was able to identify white poly bags along the stream. There is also black fabric that looks like the material that was placed on the fences to create a visual barrier,” Smith said.
“There is no mistaking that this is from the Harpersfield Project.”
Smith said also that while he and Warren were at Lake Metroparks’ Hidden Valley Park in Madison Township they encountered several kayakers who were taking out their vessels, and who had just paddled downstream from Harpersfield dam.
“They told me that the debris in question was heavily located for the first three- to four-miles downstream from Harpersfield, then sporadic the rest of the way. I would tend to believe that the debris down to at least Indian Point is spread out sporadically,” Smith said.
“It is imperative,” Smith likewise said in his email “that all of this material is removed from the river.”
Smith said too that while he did not travel any further than Indian Point Park, he believes “..it is fair to say that there is a possibility for the debris to be (further) downstream from there.”
Never-the-less, says Smith in his email, “We will need Army Corps of Engineers to identify a plan on how all of this debris will be removed. I can also foresee that as water levels drop that more debris may be identified because it may be under water.”
On that matter, a Corps official suggests this is something he wants to look into at some point, perhaps as early as the week of March 15th.
In an electronic response to Smith, Gabriel Schmidbauer, Project Manager for the Corps’ Buffalo District office, said he is tentatively planning a site visit “for probably next week to address this and other issues.”
“Being good environmental stewards is a high priority for the Corps, so we're working diligently to remove any debris associated with the Harpersfield Dam project,” Schmidbauer said in an email.
One thing is certain, though, that while Smith believes it is the Corps and its contractor’s responsibility to handle this matter, local agencies are not prepared to perform the task.
And the reason for that is due to the temporary reduction of staff brought about by the health-associated state-of-emergency of the cronoavirus threat.
“We are down to only essential personnel right now due to the virus so we are not able to support any clean up efforts,” said Lake Metroparks’ executive director Paul Palagyi in an electronic message also obtained by “Ohio Outdoor News.”
“We would help if we could, it's just not possible right now. That said, we echo (Smith’s) concern and would like to know how this is going to be addressed.”
Palagyi said that when the parks system’s resumes regular staffing, the agency will be cleaning up debris, “but I am also going to instruct our staff to track how much time it takes for them to do the clean up and what they find.”
“I'd like to know who to submit for compensation for this cleanup. If someone littered in our parks, we'd write them a ticket and charge them for the cleanup. I don't see any difference here,” Palagyi said.
Yet for steelhead anglers such as Bob Ashley of Mentor, the entire Harpersfield dam project has proven a bone of contention. The wash of construction-associated silt, mud and all has traveled as far downstream as Fairport Harbor, spoiling what had proven a very good winter steelhead fishing season, Ashley says.
“I have not been able to fish the Grand River like I want to in a couple of weeks,” Ashley said.”I’ve had to spend all my time on the Chagrin River.”
By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
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