Courier Staff Writer

INDEPENDENCE - For many a river town, a dam can be as integral to the area as the water flowing between the banks.

While once functional, many of the structures - often called low-head dams - are merely cosmetic. However, the structures are also now seen as a hazard and impediment.

The circulating currents created below the dam from water rushing over can suck swimmers or paddlers under and drown them. Fish are unable to swim above them, and river silt builds up near them.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is in the midst of an 18-month study to find out how to make the more than 150 dams in Iowa safer as more people take to the waters.

"Most of them are pretty old and at some point will have a failure because they only have a 50-year lifespan," said Nate Hoogeveen, river programs coordinator for the DNR.

Hoogeveen said if a failure happens, the DNR would like to have a plan to replace the structure with something new rather than repairing it. That is in part because many of the rivers where new water trails being developed have several dams on them, and often can be a fatal hazard.

Some of the alternatives include removing the structure, replacing them with a rock rapids of some sort or leaving them alone.

Fourteen people drowned since 1999 after getting caught in the boiling waters underneath a dam, according to the Iowa Whitewater Coalition. Six people died in 2007 alone, including Waterloo businessman Rich Droste, who drowned after getting caught in a beauty dam on the Wapsipinicon River in Independence during an overnight stop on that year's RAGBRAI intratstate bicycle ride.

Many of those same dams are also seen as community icons. In Buchanan County, enough concern was raised about possibly changing the Waspinicon Mill dam in Independence that a special meeting was held last week.

Many people were worried that the DNR would pull the structure out, said Dan Cohen, Buchanan County Conservation Board director. The rumors began after the county's trails association hired an expert to gather information about potential problems related to the dams.

"There was no talk or decisions by any of those groups to do anything specific," Cohen said.

The county has a water trail spanning from north of Jesup to Troy Mills. Portage trails are set up to go around most dams, except in Independence.

The only major change that may occur is in Littleton, where the DNR purchased the rights to modify or removed the dam. Hoogeveen said the agency hasn't decided on what to do with the dam yet, but the dam will likely be changed. It is a drowning hazard. It also harms the river's health because it's a silt trap and impedes fish migration.

Tony Bengston, a Littleton resident, said the dam has both positives and negatives. There is more fishing and recreation upstream, but there's also siltation problems and drowning dangers. Residents in the area aren't sure what should happen either. The DNR could install some sort of rock rapids there to help alleviate the problems, he said.

"Fishing should still be good for the most part," he said.

Upstream in Bremer County, there's been less discussion about their dams, said Frank Frederick, the board's director.

"We haven't addressed that issue at all in this county," Frederick said.

Frederick said many people live in cabins near the dam on Wapsipinicon River in Frederika and use the area for recreation, so there would be other complications with removing the dam or changing it. There is, however, concern about silting just above the dam.

"If anything the people would like to see it dredged above," Frederick said.

An informational meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday at the Fontana Park Nature Center, 1883 125th St., Hazleton.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.