Down with the Dams: Unchaining U.S. Rivers

Dam removal is gaining popularity across the country and the March issue of Geotimes explores this new trend, and what happens when the dams come down.

The number of large and small dams being removed from U.S. rivers is few, but increasing, as both river restoration gains popularity and aging dams lose their license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But with these removals come ecological and geological unknowns.

Geotimes follows the story of Marmot Dam in northwestern Oregon to learn more about what happens when a human-made structure is removed from a river after 94 years. Water flow, sedimentation fluctuations and ecological changes could occur but little is known about the natural processes involved when such a large structure is removed after a long period of time. By using the Marmot Dam as a case study, future dams can be removed more easily and efficiently.

Read more about changing landscapes, including what America’s developed coastlines can expect as the climate changes and how salinity is a growing problem in many of the world’s agricultural areas, plus read about dangerous contaminants in China’s water and follow the Appalachian Trail into Canada, in the March issue of Geotimes magazine.