The sangamon county DAM removal project consists of the removal of two dams the riverside and color plant dams located on the sangamon river in springfield illinois

This $1,500,000 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service under the National Fish Passage Program (CFDA 15.685) will fund the Sangamon County Dam Removal Project in Illinois. The project will remove two dams - the Riverside and Color Plant Dams - located on the Sangamon River, restoring 55.1 miles of upstream fish habitat and allowing migratory fish and other aquatic species like lake sturgeon, mooneye, and freshwater mussels to access additional spawning and nursery areas. This effort is expected to benefit native fish populations, enhance ecosystem resilience, and support sustainable fisheries by improving aquatic connectivity along the Sangamon River. The award will be administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which frequently collaborates with academic partners to leverage scientific expertise in implementing conservation and environmental management initiatives across the state.

The riverside DAM is a barrier to upstream fish movement in the sangamon river located approximately 72 miles upstream from its confluence with the illinois river the color plant DAM is the second barrier located approximately .26 miles upstream of the riverside DAM the removal of the riverside and color plant dams would allow open river access to an additional 55.1 miles upstream on the sangamon river to the lake decatur reservoir and 55 miles of the south fork of the sangamon river the removal of these barriers will allow fish and other aquatic life access to upstream habitat the farther upstream fish are allowed to travel the more likely IT is that they can find suitable spawning and nursery habitat such as sand and gravel bars lake sturgeon mooneye alligator GAR chestnut lamprey american brook lamprey and western sand darter have been collected in the sangamon river and are listed under illinois species in greatest conservation need in the illinois wildlife action plan due to declining populations and degraded habitat these species in all life stages would be expected to benefit from this DAM removal migratory sportfish such as white bass walleye sauger smallmouth bass channel catfish and flathead catfish would be expected to benefit from increased access to upstream habitat other fish such as paddlefish shovelnose sturgeon blue sucker golden redhorse shorthead redhorse silver redhorse have been collected in the sangamon river and would be expected to benefit from this DAM removal freshwater mussels which are some of the most negatively impacted aquatic animals worldwide would benefit from this DAM removal the sangamon river has historically supported over 40 species of freshwater mussels and some sites maintain diverse and valued mussel resources similar low head dams have been removed in illinois and benefits include increases in fish diversity and increases in habitat quality following DAM removals these studies have also indicated cooler water temperatures after DAM removal this could benefit stream fish that prefer cooler water thus DAM removal could potentially offset warming trends brought on by climate change