A Denny’s Dam rehabilitation community meeting will be held at the Southampton Town Hall, 201 High Street, on May 4 at 6:30 p.m.

In an April 20 media release, Denny’s Dam remains an important component of the Sea Lamprey Control Program in Lake Huron. In 2000, a safety inspection identified areas of the dam that were in need of repair. The dam currently blocks over 100 kilometres 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 18 kilograms of Great Lakes fish.

Recently, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and the 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 Commission plans to commence rehabilitation of Denny’s Dam in the Saugeen River to improve the safety and stability of the dam and to prevent the upstream migration of sea lamprey.

GLFC is collaborating with SON, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Ontario Ministry Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) as the project proponent.

The meeting is an opportunity to engage the Southampton community and users of the Saugeen River in an open discussion regarding the importance of Denny’s Dam for Sea Lamprey control in the Saugeen River, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay; and to describe the potential social and environmental impacts that this rehabilitation project could impose on the community.