Clearinghouse for Dam Removal Information - Water Resources Center Archives

»June 29, 2008 - Rutland Herald (VT)
Un-damming our rivers

»June 28, 2008 - The Plain Dealer (OH)
Dam removal might bring walleye boom by D'Arcy Egan

»June 24, 2008 - The Birmingham News (AL)
Cahaba River dam removal restores river life by Katherine Bouma
Alabama's first dam removal to save aquatic life has succeeded at restoring populations of various species, scientists say. Once a year, biologists sit on the shoals of the Cahaba River 40 miles south of Birmingham, peering through masks or plastic-bottomed buckets to count every snail or mussel within an assigned plot. A concrete dam once used as a ... [read full article]

»June 24, 2008 - New York Times
Follow the Silt by Cornelia Dean
... two scientists to collaborate on a research project on the region’s waterways. As they reported this year in the journal Science, their work challenges much of the conventional wisdom about how streams in the region formed and evolved. The scientists say 18th- and 19th-century dams and millponds, built by the thousands, altered the water flow in the region in a way not previously understood. ... "an awful lot of stream restoration, if not the vast majority of it, has no empirical basis," said William E. Dietrich, a geomorphologist at University of California, Berkeley, who studies rivers and streams. "It is being done intuitively, by looks, without strong evidence. The demand is in front of the knowledge." [read full article]

»June 23, 2008 - Penn Live (PA)
Musconetcong River to be cleaned after dam removal by Lynn Olanoff
The Gruendyke Dam straddling Hackettstown and Mount Olive Township in Morris County is no more, but work at the Musconetcong River site is far from ... [read full article]

»June 22, 2008 - The Star Ledger (NJ)
Dam removal makes it cooler for trout by Fred J. Aun
The long-awaited removal of an old dam on the Musconetcong River near Hackettstown might already be letting the river run cooler and, therefore, be better for trout. Brian Cowden, Trout Unlimited's Musconectcong Home Rivers Initiative Coordinator, said the June 15 breach of the former impoundment seemed to cause a significant decrease in the Musky's temperature downstream of ... [read full article]

»June 20(?), 2008 - Wisconsin Dells (WI)
Big Spring Dam removal set to start July 7 by Trevor Kupfer
The New Haven Town Board and landowner Mark Knutson ironed out the details of the agreement to remove Big Spring Dam last week and, on Thursday, those parties signed the fifth draft of the document to allow work to ... [read full article]

»June 19, 2008 - News Virginian (VA)
River could see restoration: Science team studying idea of helping out the South River by Sage Merritt
Some areas of the South River in Waynesboro may get a facelift, according to members of a local team devoted to studying environmental issues on the waterway. The South River Science Team is studying the possibility of restoring a stretch of eroded riverbank on the former DuPont property and removing obsolete dams that hold back water along the ... [read full article]

»June 19(?), 2008 - Baraboo News Republic (WI)
Experts: Dams would make flooding worse by Tim Damos
Former dams along the Baraboo River in Baraboo would not have prevented the flooding residents saw last week. But they could have made things worse, experts say. "Those dams did not have any flood control capacity at all," said Andy Morton, lower Wisconsin basin supervisor for the state Department of Natural Resources. "As far as controlling or preventing this water from ... [read full article]

»June 19, 2008 - The Times Record (ME)
Little River dam eyed for removal
LISBON -- State officials are considering aiding the return of Atlantic salmon to the Little River, an Androscoggin tributary dividing Lisbon and Topsham, and currently home to an unused dam impeding the ... [read full article]

»June 19, 2008 - Boston Globe
FPL Energy Hydro moving forward with dam removal
WINSLOW, Maine--FPL Energy is moving forward with the removal of a dam on the Sebasticook River now that it has received a favorable ruling by the Winslow Zoning Board of ... [read full article]

»June 17, 2008 - American Rivers [press release]
New Salmon Plan Fails to Address Effects of Dams, Global Warming: American Rivers Urges Judge Redden to Give New Administration a Chance to Get it Right by Michael Garrity
WASHINGTON, DC - June 17 - Today a coalition of environmental and fishing organizations, including American Rivers, sued the National Marine Fisheries Service over the 2008 Biological Opinion, or Salmon Plan, on the Columbia and Snake river dams. The new Salmon Plan is the third attempt by NMFS in eight years to submit a plan that passes legal muster. Statement by Michael Garrity ... [read full article]

»June 16, 2008 - Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Dam removal high priority, Corps says by Mark Ferenchik
It's supposed to cost $1.82 million to remove the 5th Avenue low-head dam on the Olentangy River. The city didn't get the federal money it said it needed to begin taking out the dam this ... [read full article]

»June 16?, 2008 - Missoulian (MT)
The work goes on: Despite spate of wet weather, demolition of Milltown Dam continues unabated by John Cramer
MILLTOWN - Demolition of the second half of Milltown Dam is moving ahead despite recent rains and snowmelt that have muddied the Superfund site and swollen the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers. Milltown workers also marked another milestone this week when they removed the 1-millionth ton of contaminated sediment, which was tainted by mine and smelter tailings from Butte and Anaconda over the past century. Project officials said the dam's remains - including the spillway, divider block and radial gate - will be gone by this fall. "Everything's looking good," said Ben Johnson, project engineer for ... [read full article]

»June 14, 2008 - The Daily World
State grant will help with dam removal by Jacob Jones
A state salmon recovery grant will help Hoquiam remove an aging dam and move toward obtaining new water rights to switch the city’s source of drinking water to wells. City Administrator Brian Shay said removing a concrete dam on the north fork of the Little Hoquiam River is expected to cost about $750,000. The project could begin next ... [read full article]

»June 12, 2008 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Storm solutions: Addressing dams must be priority by Helen Sarakinos
The ongoing rains and flash floods in southern Wisconsin are bringing national attention to dams and flooding in this state and throughout the Midwest. With climate experts predicting more severe weather in the coming years and with more than 3,800 documented dams in the state (and many others undocumented), we need to give serious thought to managing our dams so we don’t keep making national headlines. The facts are disquieting: Our dams are getting old. As of 2000, 42% of dams in Wisconsin’s rivers were older than 50 years. That percentage will grow to 78% by 2020. Yet many of the dams have not been inspected regularly, state funds to help with repair or removal of old dams have dried up and the density of homes and people along shorelines is increasing. ... [read full article]

»June 11, 2008 - The Monterey County Herald (CA)
$3M OK'D for Dam Project
The California Costal Conservancy has approved $3 million in funding for final project plans and permits to remove the San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River. The decision was made Thursday during the Conservancy's board meeting in Sacramento. California American Water Company will contribute up to an additional $3 million for the project phase. The total cost for demolishing the dam and rerouting the river through the San Clemente Creek is estimated at $83 million. Cal Am, which owns the dam, is expected to pay $49 million, with the rest coming from state, private and possibly federal funds. In 1992, the dam was declared unsafe by the ... [read full article]

»June 11, 2008 - The Morning Call (PA)
In Bethlehem, so long to the ol' swimming hole: City plans to tear down Saucon Creek dam by Nicole Radzievich
... this summer, the 1930s-era dam is coming down. As part of a $155,096 creek restoration project, the city is removing the 75-foot-long stone structure and widening the streambed. The city will also get rid of an island and the small footbridge which Melody and others use to ... [read full article]

»June 10, 2008 - Associated Press
U.S., PacifiCorp talking about Klamath dam removal
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- PacifiCorp and the federal government are in talks over how to resolve a formal proposal to remove hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to help struggling salmon runs. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Alex Pitts confirmed Tuesday that federal agencies and the utility are in continuing "conversations" about a hydropower agreement, but would not characterize that as removal of ... [read full article]

»June 10, 2008 - The Ann Arbor News (MI)
Demolition starts on Mill Creek dam: When work is done, creek will be free flowing by Lisa Allmendinger
Construction workers chipped away at a century of history in downtown Dexter on Monday as they began tearing out the dam on Mill Creek. A large construction machine was driven out into Mill Creek around 8 a.m. and its operator began slamming a large metal rod into the concrete at the top of the dam, which is under the Main Street bridge. As a small group of city officials and onlookers stood on the ... [read full article]

»June 9, 2008 - The Oregonian (OR)
Salmon runs on Rogue expected to revive once dams come down by Matthew Preusch
One of Oregon's storied rivers is on the cusp of a major makeover. What's happening on the Rogue River isn't so much transformation as reversion. Dams built during the previous century will come down. Reservoirs will return to running water. And soon, for the first time in more than 100 years, the Rogue could flow unimpeded for 157 miles from the ... [read full article]

»June 8, 2008 - National Public Radio (NPR)
Engineers Report More U.S. Dams Deteriorating Weekend Edition
As part of a monthlong series on America's infrastructure, Weekend Edition takes a closer look at the nation's dams. Nearly 80,000 dams across the country help control floods, provide hydroelectric power and regulate the water supply. But the number of dams considered unsafe has jumped 33 percent in the past decade, according to a report card by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Guest Host Audie Cornish speaks with ASCE Deputy Executive Director Larry Roth. [Listen to the 5 minute audio]

»June 5, 2008 - Naperville Sun (IL)
Open house scheduled on dam removal by Kathy Cichon
[...] The projects call for the removal of the dam at McDowell Grove in Naperville and a portion of the dam at Warrenville Grove in Warrenville, both on the West Branch of the DuPage River. They were built in the late 1930s as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps. The goal was to ... [read full article]

»May 27, 2008 - New York Times (NY)
Montana Dam Is Breached, Slowly, to Restore a Superfund Site by Jim Robbins
MILLTOWN, Mont. - Milltown Dam, a symbol of industrial progress that became a symbol of destruction, was recently breached, and two parts of the Clark Fork River were joined again. There was no dynamite, no wrecking balls, no 'blow and go' removal. Instead, an earthen dam blocking a specially built channel was removed to allow a small trickle of water to flow through and gradually grow larger. The main part of the dam will be demolished over ... [read full article]

»May 25, 2008 - Augusta Chronicle (ME)
Another Augusta benefited from dam removal by Rob Pavey
As an example of how the Savannah River might fare if New Savannah Bluff Lock & Dam were removed, environmental groups such as The Nature Conservancy have cited one of the nation's first dam removal projects, which occurred in 1999 in Augusta, Maine. Just like its New Savannah Bluff counterpart, the Edwards Dam -- demolished to allow the Kennebec River to run free -- was obsolete and impeded the river's natural flow and the ... [read full article]

»May 22, 2008 - Fosters Daily Democrat (NH)
Winnicut Dam removal funding discussed at Fish and Game session by Charles McMahon
GREENLAND - The state Fish and Game Commission held its monthly meeting Wednesday at the Great Bay Discovery Center. All 10 commissioners gathered at the Fish and Game Department's local facility to discuss various statewide projects and concerns. Among those was funding for the removal of the Winnicut Dam which is situated at the head-of-tide on the Winnicut River in Greenland and represents the only man-made barrier to upstream fish movement along the main stem of ... [read full article]

»May 17, 2008 - Florida Times-Union (FL)
40 years later, debate over Rodman dam rages on: Passions still run high in the prolonged fight over restoring the Ocklawaha River by Deirdre Conner
Just three years after the [Rodman] dam went up, the feds abandoned the ill-fated Cross-Florida Barge Canal project. But the dam - and the debate over it - remains. The dam has survived seven presidents. It - or, more accurately, its politically powerful supporters - have defied the three governors and the half-dozen state and federal agencies that have ordered its removal and restoration of the ... [read full article]

»May 15, 2008 - Andover Townsman (MA)
Experts study Shawsheen's future: Dam removal evaluation begins by Brian Messenger
Before humans built water wheels and dams to harness the Shawsheen River's power, for thousands of years the river ran unimpeded into the Merrimack River and, eventually, the Atlantic Ocean. Such conditions could make a return in Andover, but not before experts, town officials and residents weigh in on the potential impact of removing the Shawsheen River's three remaining dams through a study now ... [read full article]

»May 15, 2008 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Jackson dam removal delayed until next year by Ken McCarthy
A dam on the Connoquenessing Creek in Jackson that was slated to be removed this year likely will remain in place until 2009. Frank Moone, a trustee for Wild Waterways Conservancy, which owns the site, said the group remains committed to removing the dam, but it will take ... [read full article]