Resources for Dam Removal
We've been in the business of educating people about dams and their impacts on rivers for over fifteen years. Along the way, we've built an incredible library of scientific and outreach resources to stimulate informed debate about the option of dam removal. Take a look, stay a while.Our Dam Removal Resources:
Dam Removal: A Citizens' Guide to Restoring Rivers. Co-authored by the River Alliance of Wisconsin and Trout Unlimited. This guide, the first in the nation, was written for citizen river advocates to help develop campaigns around dam removal for their local rivers. Over 5000 copies of the Citizens' Guide have been sold in over 12 nations.
Taking a Second Look: Communities and Dam Removal (video). 2000. American Rivers, in collaboration with River Alliance of Wisconsin and other partners, offers Taking a Second Look: Communities and Dam Removal. This 22-minute video is meant to inform dam owners, local businesses, public officials, resource agencies, and other concerned community members about the benefits of dam removal as a river restoration tool.
A Factsheet on Dam Removal. Created to give an overview of the benefits of selective dam removal and to highlight and address the questions that we guarantee will come up in any discussion about dam removal. (We also partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to create site-specific factsheets to provide at public meetings debating repair or removal.)
Where Have Dams Been Removed In Wisconsin? View Map River Alliance worked with the Google Maps feature to create a map of locations where dams have been intentionally removed in Wisconsin and attaches relevant photos, reports, factsheets and video.
Before/After Photos and Photo simulations of dam removals
It's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are many thousands of words' worth of before/after images of dam removals in Wisconsin. [PDF]
Photo Simulations of Dam Removal: Sometimes the best way to help people imagine what an area would look like without a dam and flowage in place is to create a photo simulation of it. Here are two examples of sites where we commissioned a photo simulation at and where the dam was ultimately removed.
1. Franklin Dam, Sheboygan River: photos are included in in the "before & after" photo album linked above
2. Big Spring Dam, Town of New Haven: here and here.
Peer-reviewed research we have funded or authored:
Orr and Stanley 2006. Vegetation Development and Restoration Potential of Drained Reservoirs Following Dam Removal in Wisconsin. River Research and Applications 22:281-295. [PDF]
Provencher B, Sarakinos H and T Meyer 2008. Does Small Dam Removal Affect Local Property Values? An Empirical Analysis. Contemporary Economic Policy 26(2): 187-197. [PDF]
Other published contributions:
Sarakinos H (contributor). 2004. "Let the Waters Flow. Dam Removal Projects". In: Wisconsin History Highlights: Delving into the Past, Kasparek et al. eds. Wisconsin Historical Society Press: Madison, WI.
Sarakinos H and Johnson SE. 2003. "Social Perspectives on Dam Removal". In: Dam Removal Research: Status and Prospects. The H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment: Washington, DC. [PDF]
Reports
Waters of Wisconsin: The Future of Our Aquatic Ecosystems and Resources. 2003. Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters: Madison, WI.
(Todd Ambs, former River Alliance executive director, served on the WOW committee who authored this report) [PDF]
Dam Removal – A New Option For a New Century. 2002. The Aspen Institute - Program on Energy, the Environment and the Economy: Washington, DC.
(Stephanie Lindloff, former River Alliance staff, served on the panel of national experts who made the recommendations included in this report) [PDF]
Restoring the Flow: Improving Selective Dam Removal Understanding and Practice in the Great Lakes States. Recommendations from the Small Dam Removal Workshop & Working Meeting, April 26-27, 2001, Kohler, WI. (National Workshop co-hosted by Trout Unlimited and River Alliance of Wisconsin) [PDF]