Picture this: It's a warm and sunny day in Oregon, and a group of friends decides to float down the Willamette River. They drive to a boat launch parking lot, gather some food and drinks, and launch themselves downriver in inflatable innertubes.
The water gently carries them downstream until, without warning, serene waters give way to a hidden menace — a low-head dam, or "drowning machine" as they're sometimes called by kayakers.
With an unassuming profile and barely perceptible drop, the dam pulls them over its edge, where a violent, churning force awaits. A hydraulic undertow created by the man-made structure pulls them underwater, creating a vortex that can be near-impossible to escape, even for the strongest swimmer.
It's a frightening experience that happens surprisingly often, sometimes with deadly consequences. According to the National Weather Service , more than 110 deaths due to incidents caused by low-head dams were reported between 2018 and 2020.
Countless search and rescue operations have been carried out at or near low-head dams, along the Willamette River and other waterways in Oregon.
This year alone, seven college-aged students nearly drowned in May after passing over the dam in non-rated flotation devices. In July, two people were rescued from the Millrace Dam after their inflatable raft became stuck in a strainer.
The latest drowning deaths at the Millrace Dam occurred in Dec. 2020 after a 60-year-old man and his teenage daughter were involved in a paddle-boarding accident.
To learn more about these dams, the Register-Guard went out on the Willamette River with local advocates.
Evan Wills, with River Trail Guides, Michelle Emmons, with the Willamette River Keepers, and Mike McFarlane, a local advocate, led a tour of the Millrace Dam, describing its dangers where it passes unassumingly beneath the Interstate 5 bridge at the border between Eugene and Springfield.
"Right on the border is this thing that kills somebody," McFarlane said. "It kills people about every other year."
McFarlane started a petition in February demanding action from relevant state and local authorities to inspect and ultimately remove or repurpose the dam.
What are low-head dams?
Low-head dams are manufactured structures designed so that water flows continuously over the top from bank to bank and usually have a 1- to 15-foot drop-off. The falling water creates a strong circulated current that can trap objects and people underwater.
"You go over the dam and immediately you're in a hydraulic and a hydraulic is a condition of the river... basically, it's an undertow created by the water that's going over it," said McFarlane.
“The structures have earned the title of ‘the killer in our river’ or ‘drowning machines,’ according to a 2022 presentation from the American Society of Civil Engineers on the danger of low-head dams.
“These forces are nearly inescapable for even the strongest, life-jacket-clad swimmer, boats, and kayaks," it warned.
They are dangerous enough that multiple agencies, including the Association of Dam Safety Officials, the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers, the United States Society on Dams, and many others identified April as Low Head Dam Safety Awareness Month.
A study from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials says low-head dams have been built across U.S. rivers and streams to raise the water level for purposes of improving municipal and industrial water supplies, hydropower production, and diverting irrigation water.
Oregon low-head dam wrongful death lawsuits in Oregon
The Millrace dam is not the only water structure causing problems in Oregon.
The families of Joseph Bendix, 26, and Mariana Dukes, 23, a Eugene couple who drowned after tumbling over Stroda dam while kayaking down the Long Tom River in 2022, filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Oregon, Lane County, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in April.
The lawsuit alleges the Army Corps failed to restrict water users from accessing the dam by closing the waters surrounding it from public access, failed to post sufficient signage warning or alerting water users to the danger, and failed to post signage instructing water users to exit the Long Tom River before hitting the danger zone.
According to court documents, “the two approached the Stroda Dam from upriver which, like most submerged dams, has a low profile below the water line which obstructs its view from upriver. Joseph Bendix and Mariana Dukes II kayaked over the dam unsuspecting of its dangers and were pulled into the dam’s deepwater hydraulic cycle, causing both to drown.”
The lawsuit goes on to allege that the drowning event caused the couple to suffer existential fear, terror and human pain associated with recognizing that they would be killed by the river.
Since the deaths of Bendix and Dukes, the Army Corps has installed official warning signs along the river.
A brief history of the Millrace Dam in Eugene
The Millrace has a long and complicated history in Eugene.
Eugene's earliest white settlers dug the Millrace in 1851 to spin water wheels that generated power for industrial and commercial development, according to an archaeological assessment done in 2007 by Heritage Research Associates.
The waterway also acted as a major recreation canal for city residents and the University of Oregon community. Boathouses would rent out skiffs and canoes to coeds and townsfolk starting in the 1890s.
Following damage from a series of floods, the millrace was expanded in 1891 when a wing dam was built to divert more flow from the river to the race. Water-powered industries eventually gave way to electric power in the early 20th Century and industrial development along the millrace declined after 1910. The last industrial user on the Millrace closed in 1928.
While the community used the canal recreationally for years, including for the city's annual Canoe Fete where residents would build elaborate floats to drift on the waterway, the race was partially buried and allowed to deteriorate post-World War II.
In the 2007 assessment, researchers found the dam and the intake revetments, once associated with the Millrace, no longer serve their original purpose.
The dam now sits abandoned mid-channel in the river.
According to McFarlane, it's been challenging just trying to figure out who is in charge of the dam now. Multiple agencies own various portions of land along the river, ranging from the banks to the islands and the surrounding area.
"What I learned is nobody's in charge. There's no overseeing like 'hey, that's a problem and we're responsible for that.' There's no one," McFarlane said. "There's no indication that this is an issue."
Repurposing the dam
McFarlane said he is working with local and state leaders to determine the jurisdiction of all state and local agencies. There has also been discussion of funding a feasibility study that could clearly dictate the next steps and make recommendations for mitigation, removal, or even modification for recreation purposes.
"This problem gives us an opportunity to reimagine our water trail, to reimagine what our experience connecting with the Willamette River could look like," Emmons said. "When you remove the dam, if there's something like a white-water park there, we know that positive recreational activity also helps to mitigate more illicit activities from taking place on the riverbank."
How to stay safe while on the water
There are no visible signs along the Willamette River that warn people on the water of the looming danger that awaits at the dam.
"Signage is good for people who already know how to travel on the river," Emmons said. "They know to look for the signage on boat ramps, versus a group of college students that's going to be drinking some beers, hopping on a floatie, and going downriver."
Emmons, along with McFarlane and Wills, green on the importance of preparedness and education when recreating on the river.
"I don't recommend anybody float down a river unless they educate themselves about the river that they think they're going to float down," Emmons said. "There's all sort of hazards in a river and some are less obvious than others."
The American Society of Civil Engineers recommends the following safety precautions:
- Study a map beforehand to locate potential dams and hazard locations or ask a local for more information about dam locations
- Always be alert for potentially dangerous situations
- Always navigate around the structure or turn around well before reaching the dam when kayaking, canoeing or boating
- Obey all posted signage and barriers in the area
- Let someone know when and where you are heading out and when to expect your return
- Never enter the water to try and help someone. Call 911 and use a remote assistive device, such as a rope or throw bag, to try and pull them to safety.
Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: 'Drowning machines': Oregon's ongoing battle with little-known waterway killer
Most Popular
Comments / 0