{"id":22206,"date":"2015-06-04T14:33:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T18:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/?p=22206"},"modified":"2021-11-10T16:40:56","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T20:40:56","slug":"rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm","title":{"rendered":"Rivers make quick recovery following dam removal, according to USGS study of 100-plus projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Egypt\u2019s Aswan Low Dam was constructed across the Nile in 1902, it inspired nations around the world to undertake similar feats of engineering, spurring a movement that would produce many large dams into the latter half of the century. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, over the last 40 years, more than 1,000 dams have been removed in the U.S, several of which have been more than 30 meters high. Dam removals have become even more commonplace in the past two decades. The motivation ranges from concerns over safety to lack of usefulness, and a growing body of research indicates that dams disrupt riverine ecosystems and morphology, and, when possible, it\u2019s best to let a river flow uninterrupted. <\/p>\n<p>A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey assessed more than 100 dam removals to determine how quickly rivers are able to recover from the negative impacts of damming. A paper detailing the study\u2019s findings is published in the journal Science. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn talking with my colleagues a few years ago, we recognized that the last 10-20 years has seen a big increase in the number of dam removals nationwide,\u201d said Jeff Duda, co-author on the study and principal investigator at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis. \u201cWe wanted to evaluate the science of dam removal, specifically whether there (have) emerged any major themes in tracking the outcomes of dam removal.\u201d <\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22198\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/damremoval_hemlock.jpg\" alt=\"The partially removed Hemlock Dam. (Credit: Sam Beebe\/CC BY 2.0)\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/damremoval_hemlock.jpg 600w, https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/damremoval_hemlock-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-22198\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The partially removed Hemlock Dam. (Credit: Sam Beebe\/CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Compiling a database from their selected body of literature, the researchers found that most river channels stabilized within months or years following a dam removal \u2014 not decades, as had been previously suspected. Furthermore, faster dam removals seem to result in hastier recoveries. <\/p>\n<p>However, no two dam and river combinations are exactly alike, and according to Duda, \u201ccontext matters.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe history of the watershed, the size of the dam, the amount of sediment stored in reservoirs and the location of the dam in the river network are all important factors to consider with any dam removal project,\u201d Duda said. <\/p>\n<p>Each of those aspects, Duda said, may inform how the dam is removed, whether over a matter of weeks or through phases that may last months or years. <\/p>\n<p>A river\u2019s physical characteristics are the first to return to normalcy after dam removal, along with certain biological characteristics, such as the return of migratory fish to the upper reaches of the channel. The recolonization of plant communities tends to take much longer, Duda said. <\/p>\n<p>While the paper targeted about 10 percent of dam removals in the U.S., Duda noted that many of the studies used were conducted over short periods and often employed unique metrics. He and the other researchers are working on further studies that could improve understanding about river resiliency and recovery following dam deconstruction. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we could have common metrics studied at more dam removal sites over longer durations, future efforts to synthesize the science of dam removal would be more fruitful,\u201d Duda said.<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Top image:\u00a0The remains of the Briggsville Dam following its removal. (Credit: Martha Naley \/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Certain physical and biological characteristics of rivers recover soon after dam removal, especially if the dam is removed quickly, says USGS study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":22199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,49],"tags":[279,60,109,348],"class_list":["post-22206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-rivers-streams","tag-dams","tag-featured","tag-news-ticker","tag-rivers-streams"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rivers make quick recovery following dam removal, according to USGS study of 100-plus projects<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Certain physical and biological characteristics of rivers recover soon after dam removal, especially if the dam is removed quickly, says USGS study.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rivers make quick recovery following dam removal, according to USGS study of 100-plus projects\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Certain physical and biological characteristics of rivers recover soon after dam removal, especially if the dam is removed quickly, says USGS study.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Environmental Monitor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"AlexCard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-04T18:33:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-10T20:40:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/damremoval_briggsville.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex Card\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex Card\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alex Card\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26b12e34fff78267b1ccc6c845bed88f\"},\"headline\":\"Rivers make quick recovery following dam removal, according to USGS study of 100-plus projects\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-04T18:33:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-10T20:40:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm\"},\"wordCount\":534,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/rivers-make-quick-recovery-following-dam-removal-according-to-usgs-study-of-100-plus-projects.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/damremoval_briggsville.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"dams\",\"featured\",\"news ticker\",\"Rivers &amp; 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