Dam Removal Allows Dozens of U.S. Rivers to Flow Free

WASHINGTON, DC, August 19, 2003 (ENS) - On California's Brandy Creek, a large earthen dam was built in the 1950s for recreational purposes before the National Park Service owned the land. Today, the dam is decrepit and could breach, causing erosion. The National Park Service has decided to remove the dam this summer to restore the creek to its natural condition.

The Brandy Creek dam is one of 57 dams in 15 states and the District of Columbia that are scheduled for removal this year, according to a national environmental organization that monitors rivers across the United States.

Each summer, American Rivers surveys government and private conservation organizations to determine how many dams and other obstructions have been removed or are scheduled to be removed in that calendar year. More than 114 dams have been removed since the first one in 1999 - the Edwards Dam on Maine's Kennebec River.

A backhoe removes a small dam from Muddy Run stream in Pennsylvania. (Photo courtesy Donegal Chapter, Trout Unlimited)

Obstructions do not have to be tall to benefit rivers when they are removed. On Rock Creek, in the District of Columbia, two unnamed abandoned road crossings just two to four feet tall are scheduled for removal this summer or fall. These creek crossings are being removed as part of a larger environmental mitigation package for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, which includes an additional 22 blockages - abandoned sewer lines, weirs, dams - being removed or retrofitted with fish passages. Removal of the crossings, which are owned by the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, will open additional habitat for fish species such as alewife, blueback herring, and American eel.

While dams can provide valuable services, American Rivers says, the ecological price is high. Dams drown wildlife habitat under reservoirs, and block the annual migrations of fish.

"Dams do not last forever, and as they age they tend to move from being assets to liabilities," said Leon Szeptycki, eastern conservation director for Trout Unlimited. "Many communities choose to remove local dams when they have reached the point where expensive repairs can no longer be deferred."

American Rivers, Trout Unlimited, and River Alliance of Wisconsin are all conservation organizations that provide educational, technical, and financial assistance to communities that are considering or have committed to removing a dam it no longer needs.

The Esh Dam on Amish farmland in the Mill Creek watershed of Pennsylvania was removed this year as part of a more comprehensive restoration project aimed at fixing water quality problems in Mill Creek. The removal, which cost $675, is expected to improve dissolved oxygen content and normal water temperatures.

Removal of the Guilford Dam on the Sebasticook River, Newport, Maine, July 2002 (Photo courtesy Maine Department of Marine Resources)

Across the United States there are some 76,000 dams greater than six feet high and many smaller obstructions. Less than three percent generate hydroelectricity. Most of these dams were built for purposes such as running mills, controlling floods, and creating municipal and agricultural water supplies.

The conservationists point to the Ohio-American Water Company, faced with repairing or rebuilding an aging dam on the Sandusky River in Ohio. They chose to work with the state to remove the dam and donate the adjoining land for creation of a park and public access point.

"Dams can quickly become economic sinkholes, often outliving their intended use," said Helen Sarakinos, Small Dams Program Manager for the River Alliance of Wisconsin. "However, innovative solutions are sought, the entire community can benefit from the results."

Some of the 57 dams scheduled for removal this summer are already gone. Removals of the Black Dam on Pennsylvania's Conodoguinet Creek occurred in July. This 10 foot by 350 foot privately owned concrete dam was once a source of water for a feed mill, but was not in current use. As one of the last dams on Conodoguinet Creek without fish passage fell, 22 miles of habitat for American shad, blueback herring, and alewife was opened.