Dam Removal Success Stories
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DAM REMOVAL SUCCESS STORIES R ESTORING R IVERS THROUGH S ELECTIVE R EMOVAL OF D AMS THAT D ON’ T M AKE S ENSE DECEMBER 1999 DAM REMOVAL SUCCESS STORIES R ESTORING R IVERS THROUGH S ELECTIVE R EMOVAL OF D AMS THAT D ON’ T M AKE S ENSE DECEMBER 1999 This report was prepared by Friends of the Earth, American Rivers, and Trout Unlimited in December 1999. Cover Photographs: Sandstone Dam on the Kettle River in Minnesota Source: Ian Chisholm, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Cover Design: Gallagher/Wood Design Text Design: American Rivers (c) December 1999 by American Rivers, Friends of the Earth, & Trout Unlimited. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 0-913890-96-0 Printed with soy ink on 100% recycled, 30% post consumer waste, chlorine free paper. Dam Removal Success Stories Final Report iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Edited by Elizabeth Maclin and Matt Sicchio of American Rivers, with contributions from American Rivers staff Margaret Bowman, Steve Brooke, Jocelyn Gibbon and Amy Souers; Friends of the Earth staff Brent Blackwelder, Shawn Cantrell and Lisa Ramirez; and Trout Unlimited staff Brian Graber, Sara Johnson and Karen Tuerk. Thanks also to the following individuals for their assistance in the research and writing phase of this publication: Ian Chisholm, Karen Cozzetto, David Cummings, John Exo, Bob Hunter, Lance Laird, Stephanie Lindloff, David Morrill, Richard Musgrove, Dirk Peterson, Tom Potter, Craig Regalia, Elizabeth Ridlington, Jed Volkman, Bob Wengrzynek and Laura Wildman. Special thanks to the many local contacts (listed in each case study) who gave so generously of their time, and without whom this report would not have been possible. Also, special thanks to Friends of the Earth volunteer Patty O’Brien, who spent untold hours on this project. Finally, thanks to the many grassroots activists, community leaders and resource agency personnel who are helping to restore rivers through removal of dams that don’t make sense. Through their generous support of our organizations’ dam removal programs, we would like to thank the following for making this report possible: Beneficia Foundation Bullitt Foundation Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Foundation Coldwater Conservation Fund Compton Foundation French Foundation Greenville Foundation Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund Harder Foundation Robert and Dee Leggett National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Northwest Fund for the Environment Patagonia, Inc. The Pew Charitable Trusts Town Creek Foundation Turner Foundation This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the above organizations and individuals. American Rivers Friends of the Earth Trout Unlimited BLANK iv Dam Removal Success Stories Final Report v DAM REMOVAL SUCCESS STORIES: Restoring Rivers through Selective Removal of Dams that Don’t Make Sense TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction . .vii Dam Removal - Not a New Concept . .viii General Information about Dams in the United States . .ix Why Remove Dams? . .xi What Have We Learned? . .xvi List of Completed Dam Removals . .xix Case Studies: Baraboo River, Wisconsin . .3 Bear Creek, Oregon . .9 Butte Creek, California . .13 Cannon River, Minnesota . .17 Chipola River, Florida . .21 Clearwater River, Idaho . .27 Clyde River, Vermont . .33 Colburn Creek, Idaho . .37 Cold Creek, California . .41 Conestoga River, Pennsylvania . .45 Evans Creek, Oregon . .51 Juniata River, Pennsylvania . .55 Kennebec River, Maine . .59 Kettle River, Minnesota . .65 Little Miami River, Ohio . .69 Milwaukee River, Wisconsin . .73 Naugatuck River, Connecticut . .79 Neuse River, North Carolina . .83 Ouzel Creek, Colorado . .87 Pleasant River, Maine . .91 Santa Fe River, New Mexico . .95 Souadabscook Stream, Maine . .99 Walla Walla River, Oregon . .103 Whitestone Creek, Washington . .107 Willow River, Wisconsin . .111 Appendices: Lessons Learned from the Fort Edward Dam Removal . .A-1 Color Photographs . .B-1 Glossary . .C-1 Index . .D-1 American Rivers Friends of the Earth Trout Unlimited BLANK vi Dam Removal Success Stories Final Report vii DAM REMOVAL SUCCESS STORIES: Restoring Rivers through Selective Removal of Dams that Don’t Make Sense Introduction Over the past 100 years, the United States led the world in dam building—blocking and harnessing rivers for a variety of purposes, including hydropower, irrigation, flood control, and water storage. The US Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) has catalogued approximately 75,000 dams greater than six feet tall along the waterways of the United States1—and at least tens of thousands of smaller dams plug our rivers across the country. (The National Research Council estimates that the number of US dams is over 2.5 million.2) US Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt recently observed, “that means we have been building, on average, one large dam a day, every single day, since the Declaration of Independence.”3 Few human actions have more significant impacts on a river system than the presence of a dam. As a result, dams occupy a central role in the debate about protecting and restoring our river resources. Many of the major environmental campaigns in the United States, and around the world, have revolved around efforts to fight construction of large dams. Hetch Hetchy, Marble Gorge, Bridge Canyon, Tellico, and Three Gorges are all examples of pivotal campaigns focused on the environmental, eco- nomic, and societal costs and benefits associated with building a new dam. A less known page in the history of rivers is the large number of dams that have been removed. Relatively little attention has been paid to the hundreds of smaller dams that have been torn down and the thousands of miles of free flowing rivers that have been restored. For decades dam removal has been an accepted approach for dam owners to deal with unsafe, unwanted, or obsolete dams. The deci- sion to remove a dam is not as radical an idea as some today may suggest; dams are removed all the time, by a variety of entities, for a variety of reasons. Just as for any building or other human con- struction, dams have finite lifetimes and are often removed when they become obsolete or dangerous. Although dams can provide important societal benefits, dams also cause negative impacts to rivers, wildlife, and sometimes local communities. Some dams no longer provide any benefits, while continu- ing to harm the river. Others have significant negative impacts that outweigh the dam’s benefits. Still others simply are so old and/or unsafe that they cost too much money to maintain. In these situations, dam removal has been demonstrated to be a reasonable option to eliminate negative impacts and safety concerns. 1 The Army Corps criteria for including a dam in the National Inventory of Dams (NID) is as follows: (1) high hazard (failure would likely cause loss of life and significant property damage); (2) (6 ft in height and impoundment (50 acre-feet; or (3) (25 ft and impoundment >15 acre-feet. 2 NRC. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems: Science, Technology, and Public Policy. Committee on Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems: Science, Technology, and Public Policy. National Academy Press: Washington, DC. p. 26. 1992. 3 Babbitt, Bruce. “Dams are not Forever.” Ecological Society of America. Remarks of Interior Secretary. Baltimore, Maryland. August 4, 1998 American Rivers Friends of the Earth Trout Unlimited Dam Removal Success Stories Final Report viii I. Dam Removal - Not a New Concept In recent years, the public debate regarding whether or not to remove certain dams blocking key river stretches has become increasingly visible. National and local media have produced numerous news reports and articles on proposed dam removals in nearly every region of the country. Yet despite this growing national policy debate regarding proposed dam removals, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the hundreds of smaller dams that have already been removed in the United States. For those interested in the issue, learning about previous dam removals has been a difficult endeavor. While volumes have been written on the construction of dams—and to a lesser extent on campaigns opposing construction of dams—little information is available on the history of taking down dams. Citizens and policy makers considering the future of a dam have a limited ability to review similar situ- ations from the past. No comprehensive review of dam removal experiences exists nor is there a com- plete compilation of lessons learned. To help compensate for this lack of information, American Rivers, Friends of the Earth, and Trout Unlimited have prepared this report providing information on some of the dams that have been removed—and the ecological, safety, and economic benefits that accompanied these removals. Our research identified more than 465 dams that have been removed in the United States since 1912.4 We have documented removals in all regions of the country, from Washington State to Florida, from Maine to California, Texas to North Dakota. In addition to the list of over 465 dams that have been removed around the country, we have also com- piled 26 case studies on various dam removals—25 of which are dams that were successfully removed, providing cost-effective opportunities to restore river system health, alleviate dam safety concerns, and, in some circumstances, revitalize local communities. The final case study (which is included as an appendix), while not a success story, is an equally important aspect of this report and of dam removal history and provides lessons about some mistakes to avoid when removing a dam. The case studies in this report