Eugene study seeks safer future for dangerous Willamette River dam
A person was pulled from the Willamette River at the Millrace Lowhead Dam on July 11, underscoring why Eugene is studying whether the hazard should be altered or removed.
On July 11, Eugene Springfield Fire crews used two water rescue boats to pull one person from the current near the Millrace Lowhead Dam on the Willamette River by I-5, another close call at a site that has produced repeated rescue calls for years. The City of Eugene is studying whether the dam should be changed or removed.
The feasibility study was funded with money the city set aside in 2025, with additional support from the Oregon Department of State Lands. The dam sits at the edge of the Willamette River and is a remnant of the old Millrace waterway, part of electricity-generation infrastructure built by private industrialists in the late 1800s and effectively abandoned in the early 1900s.
Marion Suitor, with the City of Eugene, said the danger is not theoretical. City departments and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office are repeatedly called to the same stretch of river when swimmers, boaters and other river users get into trouble there, and deaths have also occurred at the site. The study will sort out what should happen next, including what kind of fix makes sense and whether Eugene should take on the work if removal or another intervention proves to be the best option.
Eugene Springfield Fire’s Metro Water Rescue Team has 50 personnel certified in swift water rescue and coordinates water rescue service with the sheriff’s office inside Eugene and Springfield city limits. The Willamette and McKenzie rivers account for most of its calls. Willamalane Park and Recreation District installed new informational signs at upstream put-ins in spring 2026 to warn people before they reach the hazard.
Survey work was completed in June 2026, a design workshop is planned for fall 2026, a draft feasibility report is due in fall 2026, and a final report is expected in late 2026 or early 2027. DOWL, the engineering contractor on the project, is helping collect cross-sectional survey data.
In May 2024, seven people nearly drowned after going over a low-head dam on the Willamette River in Glenwood.
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