Denny’s Dam on the Saugeen River at Southampton has undergone a major transformation over the summer and is now complete. According to the Lake Huron Fishing Club (LHFC) and Ontario Steelheaders, the rehabilitation work completed is “excellent”.
The entire dam was shored-up with thick cement walls and re-bar embedded deep into the river bed. In addition, all new steel railings have replaced the old ones and grass has been seeded along both river banks.
In 2000, a dam safety inspection identified areas of the dam that were in real need of repair and Denny’s Dam is seen as an important component of the Sea Lamprey Control Program in Lake Huron.
The dam currently blocks over 100km of mainstream habitat that has the potential to produce more than 30,000 metamorphosing sea lamprey per year, each of which has the potential to consume 18kg of Great Lakes fish.
Last year (2017), the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) entered into a partnership rooted in a common interest in the sustainable conservation of subsistence, ceremonial, social and commercial fisheries of the Saugeen River.
The dam was completely rehabilitated to improve the safety and stability of the dam and to prevent the upstream migration of the sea lamprey. The project was a major collaboration with the Lake Huron Fishing Club, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, SON, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries (OMNRF).
