The City of Niles is working with partners to restore the Dowagiac River to a free-flowing river by removing the Pucker Street Dam. The Potawatomi Resource Conservation & Development Council and several partner organizations completed the St. Joseph River Watershed Fish Migration Barrier Inventory in 2011 funded by USFWS which ranks the Pucker Street Dam as the highest priority dam in the entire watershed for removal. Pucker Street Dam is located only about 3 miles from the confluence with the St. Joseph River and is responsible for closing off almost the entire Dowagiac River Watershed and all of its tributaries (159 miles) to the St. Joseph River. Coldwater streams with a high gradient are rare in southern Michigan. Removal of the Pucker Street Dam will restore approximately 2 miles of this high gradient habitat immediately upstream of the dam. The Pucker Street Dam currently blocks the upstream migrations of fish species such as steelhead, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, brown trout, white suckers, and walleye to more than 159 miles of main stem and tributary habitat in the Dowagiac. The Dowagiac River is an incredible asset for southwest Michigan with even more potential once the river is restored to a free-flowing condition.
https://www.nilesmi.org/puckerstdam/p
Follow Us