The Village of Bethel announced on October 20 that the Cloverlick Dam in Clermont County will be removed after 85 years, officials said. The dam, built in 1941, is 235 feet long and 14 feet high, and it was once used to create a water supply for residents. Officials said the pumphouse is now broken, and the dam will be taken out along with the pumphouse as part of a project to restore the stream.
The work will cost $2.7 million in state and federal money to restore the stream, according to Bethel officials. The site is on Cloverlick Creek near Bethel, in the East Fork watershed. Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District documents describe the project as removing the low-head dam and pumphouse and restoring about 1,400 feet of Cloverlick Creek, which flows into William H. Harsha Lake.
Officials said the dam poses a danger to swimmers and boaters. A release cited by officials states that the dam creates a strong undertow that threatens to trap boaters and swimmers underwater. Project documents from the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District also describe the hazards of low-head dams, including recirculating currents and fall hazards at the dam and pumphouse, as reasons to improve public safety at the site.
The dam also affects fish in the creek. Officials said it impacts the natural migration of certain fish species, which are prevented from entering William H. Harsha Lake. Conservation district documents say removing the dam will reconnect about 10.6 stream miles of Cloverlick Creek with the East Fork Little Miami River and restore fish passage, stream banks and habitat in the affected section of the creek.
The project has been planned with several partners. The Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District lists the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Village of Bethel as project partners, and earlier project reports described the removal as a collaboration involving the district, the village and state programs. The district has said the dam became a liability and a public safety hazard after the village ceased water works operations in 2013, and that it degraded stream habitat over the years.
For residents near Bethel, the removal will change a structure that has stood on the creek since 1941. The creek section is near the Bethel Concord Trail and East Fork State Park, and conservation district documents say restoring the creek is intended to improve water quality and habitat and to make the area safer for human use. The documents also describe work to remove impounded sediment upstream of the dam, stabilize banks and restore native vegetation.
The first step is scheduled for this December, when the dam will be notched, meaning a piece of the dam will be removed to start restoring the natural water flow, officials stated. The project to fully remove the Cloverlick Dam is expected to be finished by fall of next year, according to officials. No additional schedule details were announced in the October 20 announcement.