RSSDam News: July 26 – August 2, 2012
“Dam news” is a round-up of news and events related to dams and dam removal, brought to you by the Clearinghouse for Dam Removal Information (CDRI), a project administered by the Water Resources Collections and Archives. Visit CDRI for more on dams and dam removal.
Dam Removal Benefits Eliot Brook Habitat
Seacoastonline.com – August 2, 2012
ELIOT, Maine — A dam removal and stream restoration project on Shorey’s Brook is making excellent progress, officials said recently on a tour of the site, located on the border between Eliot and South Berwick. Since the dam was removed in December, the stream meanders through a lush green valley that was formerly filled with silt.
Facts and Fiction on the Klamath River Settlement Process and Dam Removal
Times-Standard – August 1, 2012
Full water allotments went to farmers in the Upper Klamath this year, which left little water for salmon and the birds in the Nation’s first wildlife refuges. Only water mandated by the Endangered Species Act to keep Coho Salmon alive will be available, regardless of the fact 380,000 Chinook Salmon are expected. This is two-and-a-half times more salmon than in 2002 when the fish kill occurred.
Film Clip Shows Progress of Elwha River Restoration
Peninsula Daily – August 1, 2012
PORT ANGELES — An audience of about 50 people saw a 22-minute preview of Sequim filmmaker John Gussman’s documentary on the dam removal and restoration of the Elwha River.
Rindge Dam Study Updated
Malibu Times – August 1, 2012
A study exploring the environmental effects of removing Rindge Dam is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
Underwater Ecosystem Inundated by Sediment Plume
EP Magazine – Aug 1, 2012
Scuba-diver scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, with support teams from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and Washington Sea Grant, are returning to the mouth of Washington’s Elwha River this week to explore and catalogue the effect of released sediment on marine life following the nation’s largest dam removal effort.
Study: Dam Removal Helped Eels in Shenandoah Park
Washington Examiner – Jul 31, 2012
WAYNESBORO, Va. (AP) — The removal of a large dam in Virginia has meant good news for the American eel population, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service.
Washington View: Dam Removal Not Prudent in all Cases
The Columbian – Jul 31, 2012
Some activists believe there is no such thing as a good dam, that we should destroy all dams to restore fish runs, no questions asked. A more balanced approach would be identifying dams we can live with, and dams we can live without.
The Underwater World of the Elwha: A New Ecosystem Takes Shape
The Seattle Times – Jul 31, 2012
Divers took the plunge last week to investigate the effects on the nearshore environment of dam removal on the Elwha River.
Obstacle to Dam Removal Remains
Fredericksburg.com (blog) – Jul 30, 2012
One obstacle remains in the bid to get the Monumental Mills dam removed from the Hazel River. That obstacle—a king’s grant claim by one landowner—is the same one that has frustrated boaters, swimmers and fishermen for almost a decade.
Shorey Brook Dam Removed, Conservation Area Restored
Foster’s Daily Democrat – Jul 30, 2012
SOUTH BERWICK and ELIOT, Maine — Great Works Regional Land Trust (GWRLT) is pleased to announce the successful removal of the Shorey’s Brook dam and restoration of Shorey’s Brook on Raymond and Simone Savage Wildlife Preserve, the organization’s property on Route 101 (Dover-Eliot Road) in Eliot and South Berwick.
Massive Boardman Rive Dam Removal Project Poised to Begin Near Traverse City
MLive.com – Jul 29, 2012
TRAVERSE CITY, MI — Excavators in northern Michigan are poised to begin removing the first of three obsolete hydroelectric dams in Grand Traverse County following the approval of a construction contract this week.
Dam’s Removal is Complete in Lancaster
Sentinel and Enterprise – Jul 27, 2012
LANCASTER — Town Manager Orlando Pacheco said now that the last of the retention boards have been removed from the Bartlett Pond dam, residents will soon see an extension of the brook surrounded by wetlands instead of a muddy pool.
Silt From Elwha River Dam Removal Doesn’t Hang Around, Say Scientists
KING5.com – Jul 26, 2012
Before the historic removal of two dams on the Elwha River, scientists studied all the plant and animal species they could. They wanted to know how a giant plume of silt from the removal project would affect them. Scientists returned to the Elwha Thursday to find out.
