Damn Dams -- Unlimited dam removal

Started by Woolly Bugger, May 02, 2020, 06:57:09 AM

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Woolly Bugger

They're back! Migratory fish return to Brandywine Creek after dam-removal starts


QuoteIn January, contributor Jon Hurdle reported on how a series of dams along the Brandywine that date back some 200 years were being targeted for removal or modification.
The goal is to allow shad and more to return to their ancestral spawning grounds again for the first time in two centuries. 


This week, Jon Hurdle returns to tell us there's evidence the effort is paying off.

https://www.delawarepublic.org/post/they-re-back-migratory-fish-return-brandywine-creek-after-dam-removal-starts?fbclid=IwAR1oO6hy9PoOXiySEHLInwHWGkoqFn7-WilFue1a2v8sR9jNeyejS434a2E
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

JMiller

You know what's interesting on this topic.
We've had it in our minds for so long, as fishermen, biologists, conservationists, that dams need to be removed to enhance biological conditions of our rivers in a number of ways.
Recently at a conference I was at in PA, I heard an interesting alternative argument proposed.

That actually, the water held behind some of these dams on rivers such as the allegheny, which would normally just flow through in undammed conditions, now serves as a cool water reserve function during the warm summer months, which has implications for helping imperiled native freshwater mussels and other species.

Drought-like, hot summer low flow conditions are a threat to these species, and some of these reservoirs help to maintain acceptable flows.

I don't propose this as a blanket argument against dam removal, just food for thought.

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."


― Charles Bukowski

Onslow

Quote from: JMiller on May 06, 2020, 12:45:45 PMYou know what's interesting on this topic.
We've had it in our minds for so long, as fishermen, biologists, conservationists, that dams need to be removed to enhance biological conditions of our rivers in a number of ways.
Recently at a conference I was at in PA, I heard an interesting alternative argument proposed.

That actually, the water held behind some of these dams on rivers such as the allegheny, which would normally just flow through in undammed conditions, now serves as a cool water reserve function during the warm summer months, which has implications for helping imperiled native freshwater mussels and other species.

Drought-like, hot summer low flow conditions are a threat to these species, and some of these reservoirs help to maintain acceptable flows.

I don't propose this as a blanket argument against dam removal, just food for thought.



Logic and facts should matter in any decision process.  I generally dislike dams, but hydroelectric power is such a critical part of our power supply, particularly during peak demand, therefore I do not oppose them unless said dam has causes catastrophic hardship to a valuable species of fish.

Old mill dams can also stop the migration invasive species such as Alabama, Kentucky Spotted bass in rivers such as the Deep in NC, or Flatheads in other watersheds.

That all being said, to hell with dams.

Woolly Bugger

>>>For the first time in more than 55 years, rafters and boaters can float the Arkansas River from Leadville to Cañon City without disruption.

Colorado Springs Utilities and Aurora Water have finished replacing a deteriorating dam built in the 60s with a boat chute, a new water intake and a fish ladder which will allow trout to spawn upstream. The Homestake Arkansas River Diversion project reconnected the river between Granite and Buena Vista.

https://www.cpr.org/2020/07/10/with-an-old-crumbling-dam-out-of-the-way-the-arkansas-river-is-now-fully-open-to-boats-and-trout/
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger

Glen Canyon day; is the dam a tombstone or a giver of new life?

>>>To some, it's a tombstone. To others, it has been a giver of new life.

There are few events or issues in the annals of U.S. environmental history that have been as controversial as the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation considers a crown jewel and a monument to its success at harnessing the waters of the mighty Colorado River.

To those who opposed the dam, Glen Canyon's history reads like an obituary about the loss of an incomparable sandstone and water wonderland boasting a plethora of Native American ruins, emerald hanging gardens and a few spectacular natural bridges – a place to truly commune with nature and to find complete solitude since few made the effort to traverse the river along the canyon's stretch.

Those on the other side of the issue feel the dam has improved Glen Canyon – now providing greater access to its breathtaking contrast of towering crimson sandstone walls and vast expanses of crystal blue water.



https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2020/07/12/raw-glen-canyon-day-is-the-dam-a-tombstone-or-a-giver-of-new-life/#.XwyPQhOSlhE
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger

Bellingham diversion dam being removed to help these imperiled Pacific Northwest icons




https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article244071792.html

ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger

A Dam Comes Down — and Tribes, Cities, Salmon and Orcas Could All Benefit
You may not have heard much about the long fight to remove the Nooksack Dam near Bellingham, Washington, but its detonation this week will prove ecologically and culturally important.

https://therevelator.org/nooksack-dam-removal/
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Onslow

Some dams in NC need to stay intact to keep invasive Alabama and Kentucky spotted bass at bay. The Bynum dam on the Haw, and the dam on the Deep @ Moncure need not be removed. These two dams protect two excellent largemouth bass fisheries.

Woolly Bugger

Removal of Scott Dam key to Salmon and Steelhead recovery


>>>Newly installed sonar fish counting stations operated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and California Trout paint a dismal picture for the Eel River's native salmon and steelhead. While research indicates that at least 26,400 of these migratory fish should return to this river system every year for their populations to rebound, fewer than one-third of that number made the journey this past year.

A century ago, as many as one million salmon and steelhead returned to the Eel to reproduce annually. Today, the Eel's coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout populations are all listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. While the Eel River has the potential to support self-sustaining wild fish populations at a level that could be harvested commercially, it is clearly falling far short of that potential.

https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2020/07/15/another-voice-removal-of-scott-dam-key-to-salmon-and-steelhead-recovery/
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger

#9


>>>The conclusion to decades of work to remove a dam on the Middle Fork Nooksack River east of Bellingham, Washington began with a bang yesterday as crews breached the dam with a carefully planned detonation. This explosive denouement is also a beginning.



Over the next couple of weeks, crews will fully remove the 125-foot-wide, 25-foot-tall dam, allowing the Middle Fork Nooksack to run free for the first time in 60 years. With the dam's removal, 16 miles of river and tributary habitat will open up to help boost populations of three threatened Puget Sound fish species: Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout

https://www.ecowatch.com/dams-washington-2646412613.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger

Controversy swirls over dam plans in Northern New York

>>>PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) - Controversy is swirling in Plattsburgh over what to do with the Imperial Mills Dam. Our Kelly O'Brien has both sides of the story.

Over the last several decades, it's been an upstream battle trying to figure out what to do with the Imperial Mills Dam on the Saranac River.

"We want to take the dam out," said Don Lee with Trout Unlimited.

Local fishermen with Trout Unlimited say the dam blocks Atlantic salmon from getting to their natural spawning grounds upriver.


https://www.wcax.com/2020/07/27/controversy-swirls-over-dam-plans-in-northern-new-york/
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger

Europe's migratory freshwater fish population falls by 93% in 50 years

>>>Europe's migratory freshwater fish population has decreased massively.

Since 1970, their numbers have fallen by 93 percent in Europe, the highest rate of population decline in the world, according to a new report by a coalition of environmental organizations including the World Fish Migration Foundation and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The second highest rate is in Latin America and the Caribbean at 84 percent. Globally, the migratory freshwater fish population has fallen by 76 percent.

https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-29/Europe-s-migratory-freshwater-fish-population-falls-by-93-in-50-years-SvdysUeji8/index.html
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Mudwall Gatewood 3.0

I wonder what migratory freshwater fishes where/are deterred by our Gathright, Philpott and South H. dams?  It is a puzzling principled question for sure.   
"Enjoy every sandwich."  Warren Zevon

Woolly Bugger

Removal Of Milltown Dam Supported In Poll
Saint John, NB, Canada / Country 94


>>>Eighty-seven per cent of people polled in the St. Stephen and surrounding communities support the removal of the Milltown Dam.

The poll was commissioned by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick and Atlantic Salmon Federation and conducted by Oraclepoll Research

Neville Crabbe, the executive director of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, said the removal was announced by NB Power last year.

"It's the oldest hydroelectric facility in Canada, it's reached the end of its life. NB Power looked at alternatives to removal including refurbishment and determined there was no case to keep that structure in place," he said.



https://www.country94.ca/2020/07/30/removal-of-milltown-dam-supported-in-poll/
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

Woolly Bugger



>>>The U.S. government announced Friday that four huge dams on the Snake River in Washington state will not be removed to help endangered salmon migrate to the ocean.
US: Snake River dams will not be removed to save salmon


The decision thwarts the desires of environmental groups that fought for two decades to breach the structures.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement was issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration, and sought to balance the needs of salmon and other interests.

The plan calls for spilling more water over the dams at strategic times to help fish migrate faster to and from the ocean, a tactic that has already been in use.

Environmental groups panned the Trump administration plan as inadequate to save salmon, an iconic Northwest species. They contend the dams must go if salmon are to survive.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/us-snake-river-dams-will-not-be-removed-to-save-salmon/2020/07/31/b797f4f8-d362-11ea-826b-cc394d824e35_story.html
ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!