Rocky River dam expected to be removed in 2018

The Hoosier Dam (aka Woody Dam) will be removed from the Rocky River in Chatham County this year, according to a company that’s heading up the project.

“This is part of a long term, extensive conservation project,” Jeff Fisher wrote in an email. He serves as chief executive officer of Unique Places, LLC. There are “lots of conservation partners” involved with the dam removal, he wrote.

Removal of the dam will uncover some rapids. Using contour lines provided on the Chatham County GIS site, the river drops 30 vertical feet over a distance of about 160 feet just upstream of the dam.

The hydropower dam was built in 1922, stretches 235 feet across the Rocky and has an average height of 25 feet, according to the Unique Places website. Removing the dam will help restore the habitat of the Cape Fear Shiner, an endangered species, and other aquatic species in the river.

Paul Ferguson’s guidebook “Paddling Eastern North Carolina” says the backwater from the dam starts about 3.1 miles upstream.

However, the backwater has probably been reduced because Reaves Lake, which forms behind the dam, has been drawn down in preparation for the removal of the Hoosier Dam, according to the Rocky River Heritage website. The drawdown began June 26, 2017. Click here to see photos

Once the dam is removed, the project will provide about 18,500 stream mitigation units, according to Wildlands Engineering. Wildlands will monitor the site for seven years after the dam is torn down. Eventually, those units can be purchased by developers to offset the loss of streams or wetlands elsewhere.

Resources

Map: Location of the dam

Unique Places

Wildlands Engineering

Rocky River Heritage Foundation

 

Bob Brueckner

CCC Conservation Chair