Aging Dams Being Removed for Environmental Benefits

Back to Map Page July 1999 Measures Include Reduced Fishing Fleet and Dams Coming Down, as Environmental Costs Outweigh Economic Benefits In a turn-about from long-standing policies, the federal government is encouraging the destruction of dams. As aging dams come due for relicensing, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees hydroelectric dams, is refusing to relicense some dams whose environmental costs are greater than their economic benefits. In other cases the FERC is demanding costly renovations and dam owners have decided it is cheaper to tear down dams than to refit them to modern standards. As a consequence, dams around the country are coming down and a few rivers running more freely toward the ocean.   Many aging dams cost more to maintain than they are worth--both environmentally and economically. Among 18 states that have or will have removed dams, Wisconsin currently leads the way with 32 dams removed and three more currently scheduled for removal, according to a July 12 report in Newsweek. Many of these dams were built for flood control and for industrial energy production decades ago. Today many of the aging structures are considered marginal economic benefits but a major impediments to wildlife, especially fish that migrate up and down streams. Migratory fish are especially important on the coasts, where the FERC is requiring that aging dams be refitted with fish ladders, a prohibitively expensive project, in order to restore long-blocked salmon runs. Consequently dams in Maine, Oregon, Washington, California, and other coastal states are taking down dams and re-establishing salmon runs that have been blocked for as long as a century. Removal of three dams on the Butte Creek in northern California, for example, has allowed 20,000 salmon to return to their historic migratory route and spawning grounds, up from zero three years ago. In addition to strengthening wild fish populations, dam removals have economic benefits in supporting important sport and commercial fishing economies. The number of removed dams is less impressive than the precedent of widespread removals. Thus far only about 125 dams nation-wide have been taken down or removed or slated for possible destruction. This is a modest number in comparison to the 75,000 large dams on American rivers. Where these dams are strategically selected for their environmental benefits, though, they could make a substantial difference to long-diminishing fish populations as well as to natural ecological conditions in these rivers. To read more, see Environmental Science, A Global Concern, Cunningham and Saigo, 5th ed. Water suplies: dams, reservoirs, canals: p. 426-32 Environmental costs of dams: p. 427-28 Three Gorges Dam in China: p. 429 Environmental Science, a Study of Interrelationships, Enger and Smith, 7th ed. Water management: p. 275-81 In-stream uses of water: p. 281-82 Four H's of salmon survival; ecosystem management: p. 7 For further information, see these related web sites: Bruce Babbit, Secretary of the Interior, addresses the Ecological Society of America on dam removal Report on proposed dam removal on the Snake River, from the Portland Oregonian Top ten dam removals list, from Friends of the River (California) British Columbia Institute of Technology arguments for dam removals Back to Map Page feedback form | permissions | international | locate your campus rep | request a review copy digital solutions | publish with us | customer service | mhhe home Copyright ©2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of the The McGraw-Hill Companies.