A group of local and out of state residents have teamed together to advocate for the removal of the city-owned dam on the Dowagiac River.

The group of nine people, known as the Dowagiac River Keepers, have been passing out DVDs and literature with information on the benefits of dam removal.

Ken Crowne, an Illinois resident and Dowagiac River Keepers member, said the group has also been conducting interviews with homeowners near the dam and those who use the river for recreation.

“Homeowners wish to see the dam removed for property value and flood reasons, and recreational users are mixed on the issue,” Crowne said in a phone interview Tuesday.

The Niles City Council, which has offers on the table from two companies desiring to purchase or lease the dam, will discuss the issue at a Committee of the Whole meeting Feb. 28.

A third company interested in purchasing the dam, Falling Waters LLC, will give a presentation to the council at the meeting. Members of the Dowagiac River Keepers will also be in attendance and allowed to address the council.

The Dowagiac River Keepers will hold a community meeting Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. in the Niles District Library community room to give more information on the issue before the Committee of the Whole meeting.

The River Keepers are not the only ones advocating for getting rid of the dam.

At a city council meeting in January, Jay Wesley of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said it has long been the position of the state to have the dam removed.

“Removal is the best option for the ecological health of the river,” he said, adding that it would help with fish migration, improving water quality and decreasing sediment.

But Crowne, who regularly travels to Niles to fish and kayak the Dowagiac River, said there are many more reasons that removal is the best option.

“This is a multidimensional issue with social, environmental and recreational consequences,” he said.

Removing the dam would reduce risk of floods, increase property values near the dam and increase recreational tourism in the area, said Crowne.

Crowne said protecting the Dowagiac River, which is rated the highest quality rivershed in southern Michigan by the DNR, is also important.

“The river has a high gradient, naturally reproducing fish of recreational and ecological value and high dissolved oxygen content,” he said.

Local fishing and wildlife enthusiast and columnist, Larry Lyons, wants to see the dam stay.

“Without the dam, salmon and steelhead would inundate the entire river system… This would be disastrous for trout populations,” Lyons wrote in a recent column in the Niles Daily Star.

At a recent city council meeting, Niles Mayor Mike McCauslin said the state has been sending the city “mixed signals” on the dam. McCauslin pointed out that while the DNR is recommending removal, the state has passed recent legislation requiring 10 percent green energy by 2015.

“You could argue whether a dam is green power or not. I’d argue it is,” he said at that time.

City Administrator Terry Eull said he has not yet made a recommendation to the council regarding the dam and admits it’s a tough call.

“It’s a very complex and difficult decision,” Eull said. “As administrator, the concerns you have are liability in the future, cost to keep the dam up and running and then weighing that with the potential of making money from it.”

Eull said he is unsure which way the council will go on the issue.

“It will be an interesting discussion,” he said. “It’s a difficult decision for the council.”

For more information about the Dowagiac River Keepers group, visit dowagiacriverkeepers. blogspot.com.