1951 Little Grassy Lake on Little Grassy Creek near Carbondale, IL, has been drained

(Satellite)

WFCN News - Swinford Media Group posted
WATCH: The drawdown of Little Grassy Lake is nearly 100% completed. Most of the entire lake has now been drained to allow for repairs to the Little Grassy Spillway. The process to drain the lake has taken several months. There’s currently no confirmation on how long the spillway repairs will take.

Brian Thomas: On the U.S. Fish and Wildlife web site they say this “This project is estimated to take five to seven years to complete.”

The traffic in the background is on the road that is on the dam.

@ 0:30

A "before" view.

Street View, Apr 2025

Google Maps calls it a hydroelectric plant, but I could not find a powerhouse on the satellite nor a capacity rating in search results.

Google Maps

"The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has issued a fish salvage declaration for Little Grassy Lake in response to rehabilitation plans for the Little Grassy Lake dam and spillway. 

The Little Grassy dam and spillway structure has aged beyond its engineered design life, and a complete lake draw-down is necessary to initiate repairs. The draw-down will render the fish population in imminent danger of loss. Salvage may be conducted from the date of the salvage declaration until April 1, 2026. Aquatic life may be taken by a person possessing a valid sport fishing license or a combination hunting and fishing license. Legal methods for taking any species of fish shall include two pole and line fishing only; anglers may also take carp, carpsuckers, buffalo, gar, bowfin and suckers by pitchfork, gigs, bow and arrow or bow and arrow devices. There are no daily or possession limits for any species during the fish salvage declaration. No fish may be cleaned on site, nor can any fish offal be dumped on the site." [idnr]

fws
"This project is estimated to take five to seven years to complete."