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 has catalogued approximately 75,000 dams greater than five feet along the waterways of the United States. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt recently observed, "that means that, on average, we have constructed one dam every day since the signing of the Declaration of Independence." While dams can benefit society, they also cause considerable harm to rivers Today, many dams are old, unsafe, and no longer serve their intended purposes. Thousands of these obsolete and unsafe dams are impairing rivers across the country
American Rivers has worked on several individual dam removal campaigns for over a decade. Our successes in several of these campaigns - and our efforts to educate the public about the benefits of dam removal - have helped to forge today's climate where dam removal is considered a reasonable and viable option for restoring rivers. American Rivers is now engaged in a nationwide campaign to restore our nation's rivers by removing dams that do not make sense - those dams whose remaining benefits are outweighed by the benefits of restoring a free-flowing river through dam removal
When Do We Advocate For River Restoration Through Dam Removal? American Rivers only advocates removal of dams that do not make sense. We support removal where either: (1) the dam no longer serves a useful purpose; or (2) the benefits of removing the dam (including environmental, safety, and socio-cultural benefits) outweigh the benefits of keeping the dam (such as hydropower, flood control, irrigation or recreation).
American Rivers is developing, in conjunction with Trout Unlimited, a checklist of issues to be considered in engaging in and designing a dam removal campaign, both to aid our identification of priorities and to assist non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government officials and local communities in deciding whether dam removal is appropriate.
American Rivers' Dam Removal Campaign focuses on two different categories of dams: (1) hydropower dams regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where we will use FERC relicensing and license surrender procedures to restore rivers; and (2) small or abandoned dams, where we will assist NGOs, government officials and local communities in the selective removal of old, obsolete and/or unsafe dams, both as a tool to restore healthy functions to the river, and as a least cost option for resolving dam safety issues
How Do We Advocate For River Restoration Through Dam Removal? American Rivers employs the following five strategies in achieving river restoration through dam removal:
Engage in Individual & Regional Dam Removal Campaigns: American Rivers is engaged in a select number of individual dam removal campaigns to ensure on-the-ground river restoration progress. In addition, we are engaged in a state-wide effort in Maine to restore migratory fish habitat through dam removal and other river restoration options
Provide Hands-on Assistance: American Rivers provides one-on-one assistance to NGOs, government agencies and local communities in dam removal campaigns other than our own. When requested, we provide advise as to whether dam removal is a good river restoration option for the dam in question. Where NGOs, government agencies or local communities are pursuing dam removal, we provide strategic advice and resource materials for their efforts
Promote Dam Removal Financing & Other Policy Reforms: American Rivers advocates for reform of national and state policy to create a better climate (legally, politically, and financially) for dam removal. Identifying and developing the financing for dam removal is a priority in our campaign American Rivers is also seeking other policy reforms, especially at FERC, designed to make dam removal efforts more effective
Communicate the Benefits of Dam Removal: Through written and electronic media, we educate the public about the impacts of dams on rivers and about the river restoration benefits of removing dams
Develop & Distribute Resource Materials: American Rivers has developed a Dam Removal Resource Center that provides materials on many aspects of dam removal, both on the web and in hard copy. These materials are designed to aid individual and regional dam removal efforts by providing dam removal information that might not otherwise be easily available. The following material is currently available from the Dam Removal Resource Center:
Dam safety information
Additional resource material is being developed for the Dam Removal Resource Center, including:
For more information on American Rivers' Dam Removal Campaign, please contact:
Margaret Bowman
Senior Director, Dam Programs
American Rivers
1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 720
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 347-7550 ext. 3016
Fax: (202) 347-9240
E-mail: mbowman@amrivers.org
www.amrivers.org
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