ASHEVILLE - The city of Asheville intends to removethe Lake Craig Damas part of an ongoing project related to recovery from Tropical Storm Helene.
The Lake Craig Dam was originally built in 1924 as a combined hydroelectric dam and bridge, but the hydroelectric component was decommissioned in 1952 and modified into a pass-through weir to support the Gashes Creek Bridge, according to the city.
The dam and bridge were badly damaged by Helene, which struck Western North Carolina Sept. 27, 2024. The bridge is set to be replaced and the dam removed as part of the city'sAzalea Parks and Infrastructure Recovery Project, which is intended to rebuild city-owned public spaces along the Swannanoa River damaged by the storm.
Dustin Clemens, Azalea Parks and
Infrastructure Project manager, told the Citizen Times Oct. 8 that modeling by the city showed there was no downstream benefit of keeping the dam in place, and, in fact, its removal could reduce flooding of nearby soccer fields.
"We are currently working with (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to do some additional investigations in terms of the structural integrity of the remaining dam to verify that it cannot be repaired," Clemens said.
The city's plan is for FEMA public assistance funds to pay for the dam removal, but in the unlikely event that particular funding isn't approved, the city's plan is to seek hazard mitigation funds from FEMA, Clemens said.
"There are a lot of benefits for dam removal for wildlife habitat, for fish habitat, for recreational opportunities and for flood mitigation as well. For all of those reasons, we're moving forward with the anticipation of removing the dam," Clemens said.
Luke Etchison, conservation biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, told the Citizen Times Oct. 8 that the dam, even prior to Helene, wasn't holding back sediment, and now that it's damaged, it doesn't have much sediment at all.
"Typically when they do a dam removal, the biggest threat to anything instream is if there's a ton of sediment and they don't have funds to remove that sediment. Sediment removal is often one of the top costs for removing a dam," Etchison said.
Removing the dam will allow unrestricted access to the upper portion of the river to fish and other creatures, some of which have already made their way through the damaged portion of the dam. Long term, removing the dam will also be better for the Swannanoa River's water quality, Etchison said.
"All sorts of fish and different critters have different abilities to move in a stream, and if it's restricted at all, it's going to cause problems for whatever the species is," he said.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville to remove Lake Craig Dam following Helene
