(WKBN) – The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments it will be conducting studies before certain dams along the Mahoning River are removed.

Eastgate, with money from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, will do hydraulic analysis to determine how the removal of dams will effect water levels.

The studies will help determine how removing the dams will affect water flow along the Mahoning. Eastgate is hoping its findings will help community leaders decide which dams can be removed without negatively affecting residents and industry along the river.

Those living in Leavittsburg are concerned about the possible removal of their dam. McDonald Steel, which uses the pool behind the Girard dam to cool its mills, is also worried.

Both of those dams will be studied, along with two dams in Warren — one near the old Republic Steel Mill and the other at Summit Street.

MS Consultants will lead the project. The studies should be done by late summer or early fall.

You can follow the project’s progress online.

This is part of the larger Mahoning River Corridor Revitalization Plan, which is looking for opportunities for future economic investment along the river to connect communities, protect wild spaces and preserve the river’s legacy.