# Downtown dam removal



## getitgetit (Apr 21, 2009)

Is the scioto gonna stay looking like a mud flat...What u think the average depth will be....And will the flathead fishing get better since the dams has been removed \m/


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## buckeye024 (Apr 14, 2006)

The river should be slightly deeper, faster flowing, but only about half as wide. I saw a news report on it several weeks back. They said the expect better fishing too. It's just going to take a little time to complete. 

Here's some info on the project that includes renderings of what it's expected to look like. http://utilities.columbus.gov/content.aspx?id=17304



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## the-fisherman (Sep 20, 2013)

The river is very shallow around Ohio State since the dam was removed. It will be years until the water can cut the river bed deeper. If you jog, run, or bike the Olentangy Trail there are huge billboards outlining the time table for the transformation. Ohio State believes about 25 years will be needed for the entire process to be completed according to their billboards.


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Its a river, it will never be completed. They may think they will complete their plans in 25 years but I'm sure the river will ruin some of those. 

Just wait and see what it looks like after the spring. By June you might have a better idea of what is going to happen and how long it will take. Everyone is worried about the mud but sometimes that stuff can get washed out pretty quick. The new river banks may take longer to establish than the channel itself. It may be messy until plants growing and holding the soil together, then water will wash away the rest.


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## Stuhly (Jul 6, 2009)

View attachment 88061
it will take awhile for the banks and mud to dry up !
They removed 2 dams in Downtown Cuyahoga Falls this past summer


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## Deazl666 (Mar 30, 2012)

How deep do you think that mud is? Was wondering if it'd be possible to walk out to the confluence and fish that deep hole (without sinking up to my neck or beyond)...

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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

the-fisherman said:


> The river is very shallow around Ohio State since the dam was removed. It will be years until the water can cut the river bed deeper. If you jog, run, or bike the Olentangy Trail there are huge billboards outlining the time table for the transformation. Ohio State believes about 25 years will be needed for the entire process to be completed according to their billboards.


The Olentangy has always been the smaller shallower cousin of the Scioto, similar to the Scioto up north around the prospect area. Starting at the confluence the Scioto becomes a "Big River"; water will straight rip through there during the spring. I've been watching the downtown/Frank rd. river gauge for years now, and it's not uncommon to see the river hit 20,000 FPS at least once a year (she's rolling @ 600 fps right now).

Also keep in mind that the Olentangy is and always has been basically screwed by the Army Core of Engineers/Delaware Dam. The river will try and correct itself during short bursts of high water releases, then the ACOE flips a switch and drops the flow from Delaware down to nothing. Game Over.

The Scioto on the other hand, has no true Dams (contrary to popular belief), only a series of Spillways (A Dam being an object that can hold back vast amounts of water/excess water then release it at a later date). Once the water starts to rise on the Scioto it just keeps rising and rising and rising, there's really nothing to stop it. Combine the raging Scioto with the Raging torrent of the Olentangy (when Delaware is releasing at full-tilt) and you are going to have one mean river ripping through downtown. That said the river down there is in rough shape, which is to be expected. There's likely very few people on here who have dug up the historical photographs of downtown back in the early 1900's; Slum houses/factories lined the bare, pure-mud banks, debris everywhere... 

North of the Confluence both Rivers actually don't look that bad, but once you get into downtown you can tell the mighty Scioto has taken a few shots to the chin.

As for the mud/muck, it's thick, and substantial, at least right around the confluence. North of the Confluence it didn't look too bad, and some of the banks downtown looked "ok"



rustyfish said:


> Just wait and see what it looks like after the spring. By June you might have a better idea of what is going to happen and how long it will take. Everyone is worried about the mud but sometimes that stuff can get washed out pretty quick. The new river banks may take longer to establish than the channel itself. It may be messy until plants growing and holding the soil together, then water will wash away the rest.


Exactly. 

Come spring the river is going to wreak-havoc trying to undo all the changes that have accumulated over the past (100?) years. Having followed/fished rivers for 18 years I am still amazed at the changes that can take place in a 12 month time period. I've seen straight runs turn into winding tailouts in 6 months. Long, deep (10ft) holes literally get filled in overnight, as entire walls of substrate/soil collapse into the water. Basically forget what the river looks like now, it won't look that way for long.

That said I don't expect the fishing to be very good initially. Hard to say, and hard to hear, but there'e alot of work that needs to be done (by both parties). Some species will fare much better then others; Catfishing should be fine, Flatheads/Channles seem to care less about muddy water, and there's bazillions of Shad in that stretch. Wipers love big rivers/confluences/billions of baitfish, so expect them to take a liking to that area. Smallmouth/LM/Saugeye will likely have it bad, although (as I said before) the areas immediately north of the confluence don't look horrible.

As for wading/exploring: As I said before, Starting at the confluence the Scioto becomes a "Big River". Don't get it confused with either the Olentangy or the upper fork of the Scioto, It's in a whole different class of waterways, it's more of a "Ohio River" whereas the the Olentangy is more of a "Darby Creek" 

Personally I'd be extremely reluctant to wade it until i'd thoroughly scouted the area from a boat/canoe/kyak. And even then, the holes/drop off's aren't what we wader-folk are used too. Also look for those mudbars to become increasingly unstable, depending on what the river wants to do with them.


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

One thing to keep in mind about the Olentangy is there's no flow control below Delaware. They can close the dam tight in a heavy rain event but all of the development along the Rt. 23 corridor and all of the feeder tributaries - all those roofs and paved lots and roads - will flush down the river. Add all the hard surfaces in the valley through Delaware (the city) Worthington and Columbus, down to the confluence. The only moderation is from whatever stormwater retention facilities might be built into those developments.

You can see a huge spike on the Worthington gauge, and usually you can see them opening the dam as soon as the spike has peaked at Worthington.


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## GarryS (Apr 5, 2004)

I agree with acklac7. I have been on the Scioto downtown. I seen on the depth finder how there were so many drop offs in that body of water. I don't think it would be a good idea to try to wade down there. The main one that comes to mind is right in front where the O'lentangy dumps into the Scioto River. Its been years since I had my boat down there so I am sure it has changed some. Just be careful. A lot of people have drown in that river. We don't want to lose any one else!!

GarryS


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Good write up Acklac....that about sums it up.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

GarryS said:


> A lot of people have drown in that river. We don't want to lose any one else!!


More or less why I brought it up. Almost every death i've heard about has come from wading Greenlawn, or south of Greenlawn. I think people tend to underestimate the power of the twin rivers combined. I don't know how many times i've checked the Oshay guage in spring (when it's absolutely ROARING) then checked the Frank rd/Downtown Gauge to find the flow rate doubled (or more..) . All that water can create some monster holes, literally overnight.


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## Capital outdoorsman (Mar 27, 2006)

walked over to the river yesterday during lunch. Wow is it shallow over by COSI. Wanted to go down and look to see if there was some interesting structure. Nothing too amazing. A lot of metal structure buried in that water. Good news is it looks like the draw down will allow them to remove some shopping carts. You could start a small grocery store.


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## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

I have always wondered why do so many shopping carts end up in rivers...? Is it the homeless, or do kids just get a kick out of steeling shopping carts and chucking them into rivers...? I picture every time I get a snag its due to a shopping cart. I have probably lost a good $1K of lures on shopping carts alone in my life time.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

I remember watching a guy pull a winning bag of smallies off a shopping cart in the middle of lsc, think it was flw...


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

I did a bit of scouting and picture taking around North Bank and the confluence, things are looking good.

But Mr. Super Genius here left the camera card in this laptop at home, so I only got a few pics before the camera ran out of internal memory.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

FOSR said:


> I did a bit of scouting and picture taking around North Bank and the confluence, things are looking good.
> 
> But Mr. Super Genius here left the camera card in this laptop at home, so I only got a few pics before the camera ran out of internal memory.


Wow...looks nice.


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## bruce (Feb 10, 2007)

this rain in the forcast will change things.


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## bruce (Feb 10, 2007)

How much muck will be added to the greenlawn pool.


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

One other thing - there's plenty of fresh beaver sign around there. I noticed they had some wire fence staked around some young oaks at North Bank Park, and at first I thought it was protection against deer. Then I noticed one oak, maybe 5 inches caliper, not fenced and nicely ringbarked.

Mr. Tree-hugger speaking, it would be great to have a willow stake planting in those new exposed flats, stabilize the new banks with native species, yes ... or maybe it would be like planting pretzel rods for beavers.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

bruce said:


> this rain in the forcast will change things.


To put it mildly...

Advanced prediction Guage is putting the downtown Scioto at 26,000FPS by Sunday.










That river is going to rip that new strech to shreds...Wow, didn't expect a high water event like this to come for at least another 4-5 months. Almost like "mother nature" got a good look of what was exposed/opened up and said "we gotta do something about this, like now"...


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Lol who is getting before & after photos?? Come on FOSR!


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

As far as tree-planting ideas go, *good luck*


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## bruce (Feb 10, 2007)

I'ts up to 30,100


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## bruce (Feb 10, 2007)

I think old Mother nature is given this {new} river a kick start. WOW 35,900 cfps. Thanks mom


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## Feiwen (Sep 4, 2013)

Ya that river is crazy atm

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## nyall86 (Jul 31, 2013)

Took a walk with my dog to checkout the river. Highest I have ever seen it downtown.


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Hah, it's like the old pool is back, except now it's moving.


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## Feiwen (Sep 4, 2013)

Wow nice pics

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## Vince™ (Sep 20, 2011)

Here are a few from another board. (http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/the-removal-of-the-main-street-dam/page/7)


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Yeah, a cross-link between Ohio Game Fishing and Columbus Underground. I've been on both boards for a while and I've often cited one to the other. Both boards are good sources for information, and we're talking about the same streams.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

2nd (or 3rd) highest i've ever seen the Scioto in my life. Should change things up pretty good...


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

I had some opportunities to provide input back before the Scioto Mile was started, and they were talking about parklands along the riverside. I told them the water level was going to be highly variable and they'd better design fixtures like benches and tables for occasional flooding.

Man I wonder what that wooded floodplain below Greenlawn is like.


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

FOSR said:


> I had some opportunities to provide input back before the Scioto Mile was started, and *they were talking about parklands along the riverside. I told them the water level was going to be highly variable and they'd better design fixtures like benches and tables for occasional flooding.*
> 
> Man I wonder what that wooded floodplain below Greenlawn is like.



LOL,,,
AHHH YES! The Mother Nature Test.
The BEST TEST to engineering design!!!
How many of OUR tax $$$$ are heading DOWN THAT RIVER???

Sorry,
(  I'm not a 'fan' of design engineers that have NEVER 'touched the field'!)


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

AFAIK they haven't done much channel work yet. I'm hoping this event demonstrates to them that, yes, the river can come up and kick ya.

MORPC is working on some computer models of climate change in the Scioto watershed, for the purpose of future planning, and one of their main assumptions is a greater frequency of extreme weather, like heavier rains and longer droughts.


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## michael.redmon (Aug 27, 2010)

I used to put in down at the MetroPark (greenlawn pool is what I believe everyone on here calls it) but wouldnt hardly catch much. I started putting in at the Long street ramp and then go up from the confluence and i would catch all kinds of bass. Soooo.... the question is this: With the main street dam gone how much will that change the depth of the water if you put in at the metropark? I suppose the area around the boat ramp wont be changed much but at what point will the area south of the main street dam change? I am disappointed in the dam removal because I liked fishing by boat from the long street ramp. Hopefully the fishing will improve south of the dam. Suppose we will find out in the spring.


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Who owns the rowing shells stashed under the confluence restaurant? I wonder if they'll still be able to use those without the dam.


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

I swapped some messages with a parks planner. I asked if the existing city code in Title 9 will change the rules on the "downtown pool" and she said probably not, vessels will still be allowed and they can put in at Greenlawn. So I guess that officially, anyway, the new river channel will be considered part of the pool behind Greenlawn.


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## Sciotodarby (Jul 27, 2013)

After seeing the pics from last months flood, my question is what is going to be underwater on a big flood? It was up quite a bit down here with a crest of 20.65. I know a lot of tribs dump into it between here and Columbus, but what's it going to look like if we get a crest of 22 or so and the majority of the water is coming from above the Darby and Walnut watersheds like this past flood?


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

This is me being interviewed on 10TV, about the downtown dam removal. *G* of the three people interviewed for the segment, I'm the only one who was not identified.

This was on the Main St. bridge, just upstream from the former dam site. Man, what a difference without the dam, the water was flowing so fast that you could hear it rushing. Actually, it looked like it would be rather dangerous water for boating.


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

First impression was, "why is Elton Johns photo on OGF?"


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Dovans said:


> First impression was, "why is Elton Johns photo on OGF?"


You are so wrong. I can't afford eyeglasses with windshield wipers.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Went scouting today, and boy did that flood clean things up. Alot of the sediment/muck (that I could see) has been washed away, and the river(s) have rapidly begun to clean themselves up. 

Note the picture below; the left is before the flood, the right is after. While the water may be lower in the "after" pic note the gravely/muck
hump (along the inside right bridge piling) and riffle under the bridge have completely disappeared. Also note a new riffle has formed just above the bridge. I expect similar outcomes all along the Scioto/Olentangy once the snow/ice clears (hopefully here in a few days). I'll keep this thread updated as more and more is revealed.













And some sexy Scioto Wipers for Good measure:


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## allbraid (Jan 14, 2012)

Nice Fish! Congrats! What did you catch them on??


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

First two on Joshy's and Stickbaits (The smaller one hit a monster musky-sized X-rap 12 ). Last one on a Gizz4. All within the last month, All were released.


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## allbraid (Jan 14, 2012)

Good man! Thanks for the fix, been stuck at work


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## Vince™ (Sep 20, 2011)

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Pretty nice day so I thought I'd take a walk. Here is a picture update.


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## the-fisherman (Sep 20, 2013)

I cannot wait to get on my bike and check everything out.


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## HookBender (Apr 2, 2012)

Whats the situation with The Santa Maria?


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

HookBender said:


> Whats the situation with The Santa Maria?


Sitting in a puddle right where she always is.

Mr. A


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## NiteOwl561 (Aug 11, 2013)

Caught a few nice large mouth right behind COSI last summer. It was nice to leave the office and walk down to the river for a little after work fishing. It will be exciting to see the area cleaned up. Hopefully thing will improve and I'll be able to enjoy happy hour fishing downtown once again.


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