Dam on the Fox River at the former Challenge Windmill Factory in Batavia. Photo by Al Watts, 2024.
If talk about dam removals on the Fox River in Kane County has seemed to quiet down, it does not mean that progress is not being made. After initially requiring municipalities to decide by April of 2024 if they would agree to allow the removal of their dams, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that more studies were needed and rescinded that deadline.[1] A new deadline of January 30, 2026 has been given to municipalities, indicating that the Army Corps now appears ready to move forward again.
RECAP
In September of 2023, the Army Corps released a draft report recommending the removal of all the low-head dams on the Fox River in Kane County. Removing the dams, the Army Corps’ draft report said, would restore ecosystems, improve water quality and safety, and reduce flood risk among several other goals. Dam removal would cost nothing to the municipalities that have a dam. The Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) planned to foot the bill. If a municipality did not want its dam removed, ownership of the dam would be turned over to that city, if it did not already own the dam. Batavia owns its remaining dam, while the IDNR owns the dams in St. Charles and Geneva.
NON-BINDING LETTER
On August 28, 2025, the Army Corps sent a new letter to each municipality in Kane County with a dam on the Fox River with a similar request it had asked for in 2024: a non-binding agreement to allow the Army Corps to continue “assessments for environmental, historic, and sediment quality impacts,” related to potential dam removal.[2] The letter requested a response by January 30, 2026.
Status of NON-BINDING letters of support for dam removal in the Tri-Cities:
Batavia – the city has already decided to remove its dam.
Geneva – submitted letter of support on November 4, 2025.
St. Charles – discussed at the Government Services meeting on December 1, 2025.
Simply put, the Army Corps does not want to waste its time making assessments of dams in communities that will never agree to remove them. However, because the letter of support for dam removal is NON-BINDING, there seems to be little risk to supporting the Army Corps’ work at this time. There is still a lot unknown about the benefits and consequences of dam removal, so it seems prudent to continue gathering information before choosing to sign, or not sign, a BINDING agreement for dam removal at some time in the future.
TENTATIVE DAM REMOVAL SCHEDULE
In an email to us on October 1, 2025 from Project Manager Cody R. Johnson, the Army Corps shared its tentative schedule moving forward. In the Spring of 2026, the Army Corps hopes to present an updated draft of its findings to the public and will gather public comment. By January of 2027, municipalities would be asked to sign BINDING agreements either to have their dam removed or take over ownership. If everything were to go as planned, the Army Corps would begin removing dams in 2028. This tentative schedule is probably overly ambitious, however.
HISTORIC RESOURCES REVIEW
As we have noted previously, our role in dam removal is as a consulting party on a review of the historic resources that could be impacted by dam removal, known as a Section 106 review. While this review is not expected until at least sometime in 2027, we are at work assembling reports on the dams and historic resources next to the Fox River in the Tri-Cities. Last year, we presented our preliminary draft regarding St. Charles, and we plan to present it again in 2026. This year, we expect to present our preliminary draft about Batavia. Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter so you will know when and where these presentations will be.
Removing or keeping its dam will be a difficult decision for some municipalities. Additional information provided by the Army Corps, which will result from submitting a supportive, non-binding letter by January 30, 2026, will likely aid these communities in making that decision.
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[1] Gloria Casas, “Fox River Dam Removal on Hold for Now as Army Corps Says it Wants to Do More Research,” Elgin Courier News, July 26, 2024, https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/07/26/fox-river-dam-removal-on-hold-for-now-as-army-corps-says-it-wants-to-do-more-research/; see also “Fox River Dam Removals to Be Re-Evaluated,” Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley, August 2, 2024, https://www.ppfv.org/blog/2024/8/2/fox-river-dam-removals-to-be-re-evaluated.
[2] Colonel Kenneth P. Rockwell to Mayor Kevin Burns, “Fox River Connectivity & Habitat Study Request for Letter of Support,” August 28, 2025, https://www.geneva.il.us/DocumentCenter/View/16478/Army-Corps-Engineers-Letter. Presumably, the other mayors of cities in Kane County with dams on the Fox River owned by the state received the same letter.