Southwest Michigan Planning Commission

A Free Flowing Dowagiac River

The City of Niles purchased a wooden dam that was built in the early 1800’s and constructed a concrete dam structure in 1928. The Pucker Street dam once provided significant economic benefit to the community by providing electricity. As the impoundment built up with sediment causing the equipment to continuously fail, the dam became too costly for the City to operate. The dam had not produced power since 1995 and the dam was rated number one for removal in the St. Joseph River Watershed according to a study funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The City of Niles worked with several partners to remove the dam and return the Dowagiac to a free flowing river and contribute to the overall goal of its restoration. The Dowagiac River is the largest cold water river system in southern lower Michigan and supports a diverse fishery.

SWMPC assisted the City in securing over $2 million in grant funding for the dam removal and restoration of the Dowagiac River. The project took over 10 years to complete and involved 20 partners and 6 funders.  The dam had disconnected 159 miles of river and stream and 11,000 acres of wetlands from the St. Joseph River. Those connections have now been restored along with the hydrology and habitat of a 2 mile section of river. During construction, 270,000 cubic yards of sediment (equal to 81 Olympic size pools) was removed. This project benefitted 37 native fish and 4 salmon species.

Past

Cost/Funding:

2013 Michigan Department of Natural Resources - Aquatic Habitat -$200,000

FY 2014 US Fish & Wildlife Service Fish Passage - $200,000

2014 National Fish & Wildlife Foundation - Sustain our Great Lakes - $362,854.51

2014 Great Lakes Fishery Trust - $400,000

2014 Michigan Department of Natural Resources - Dam Management – $90,750

FY 2015 US Fish & Wildlife Service Fish Passage - $300,000

MDNR Dam Management (additional) - $100,000

FY2017 Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Restoration Act - $166,115.94

FY2019  Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act -$41,865.00

Important Dates:

Completed Spring 2022