List of dam removals in the United States

This is a list of dams in the United States that have been removed as physical impediments to free-flowing rivers or streams. Dams are not included if they have instead failed, or if they have been decommissioned but not yet removed. Dam removal takes many forms, and some removals may leave structures behind or alter the natural course of a river.

The Glines Canyon Dam, the largest dam ever to be removed, shown mid-demolition in 2012.

According to the non-profit advocacy organization American Rivers, 1,951 dams were removed in the United States between 1912 and 2021. The peak year was 2018, which saw 111 removals. Pennsylvania removed 364 dams in this period, more than any other state. Mississippi is the only state with no documented dam removals.[1]

Major removals

Completed removals

DamDam heightWatercourseStateRemoval completedNotes
Lewiston Dam 39 ft (12 m) South Fork Clearwater River ID 1973 The dam was built in 1927 as a hydroelectric facility, but lacked fish ladders. Upon completion of the Lower Granite Dam and its reservoir, the lack of gradient on the river made it obsolete. Its removal improved salmon runs on the river.
Grangeville Dam 56 ft (17 m) ID 1963 This 440 ft (130 m) long arched concrete hydroelectric dam was constructed by the Washington Water Power Company in 1911. A wooden fish ladder had been installed but it collapsed in 1949. The dam was removed in the interest of fish passage and since the hydropower facilities had become obsolete. The dam was destroyed by dynamite at 6:35 PM on August 19, 1963, following two prior detonations that day which had failed to collapse the structure.[2] At the time, the dam was the largest ever to be removed, a record which stood for decades.[3]
Edwards Dam 24 ft (7.3 m) Kennebec River ME 1999 Built in 1837, the dam blocked access to Atlantic Salmon and American Shad. This was a landmark case in which a U.S. federal agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, required the decommissioning and removal of a dam against the operator's wishes.
Cuddebackville Dam 6 ft (1.8 m) Neversink River NY 2004 Built in two portions dating from the 1820s (for water diversion into a canal) and 1915 (for hydroelectric power), the dam had been abandoned since 1945. The dam was removed in October 2004 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in a novel partnership with the Nature Conservancy, to benefit the aquatic life in the area, specifically the Dwarf Wedge Mussel and the American Shad.
Marmot Dam 50 ft (15 m) Sandy River OR 2007 The removal of this dam by Portland General Electric has been extremely successful at improving access for Pacific Salmon and steelhead to the upper Sandy River watershed up into the Mount Hood Wilderness.
Fossil Creek Dam 25 ft (7.6 m)[4] Fossil Creek AZ 2008 Built in 1916, this dam supported hydroelectric power production. In 2008, the dam was removed to restore flow, travertine deposition, and native fish populations.[5]
Milltown Dam 21 ft (6.4 m) Clark Fork River, Blackfoot River MT 2008 Dam held startling levels of toxic sediments from 100 years of mining and logging. Removal improved water quality, trout habitat, and the general ecological condition of the watershed.[6]
Gold Ray Dam 35 ft (11 m) Rogue River OR 2010
Gold Hill Dam 14 ft (4.3 m) 2008
Savage Rapids Dam 39 ft (12 m) 2009 Built for agricultural water diversion, it was removed by the Bureau of Reclamation due to its out-dated facilities and non-functioning fish ladders that prevented fish migration past the dam.
Elk Creek Dam 80 ft (24 m) Elk Creek (Rogue River tributary) OR 2008
Condit Dam 123 ft (37 m) White Salmon River WA 2011 The dam blocked access for Pacific Salmon and steelhead runs on 33 miles (53 km) of river. PacifiCorp proposed to remove the dam, rather than paying for fish passage upgrades. Removal was proposed in 2006, but actions from Skamania and Klickitat counties held up the process. In fall 2008, salmon were trucked up above to dam to allow them to spawn higher up the river. In October 2011, PacifiCorp contractors used explosives to blow a 15-foot (4.6 m) hole in the dam to drain its reservoir and allow young salmon to enter the Columbia River and head to sea.
Elwha Dam 108 ft (33 m) Elwha River WA 2012 The largest dam removal project in history is the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration project on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Starting in 2012, and finishing in 2014, the 108 ft (33 m) Elwha Dam and the 210 ft (64 m) Glines Canyon Dam were removed to restore stocks of Pacific Salmon and trout species to the Elwha River watershed. The removal of these blockades allows migratory salmon to travel past the dam sites and upriver, an event that has not occurred since the dams' creation in 1913. After spawning there, the salmon die and their carcasses decompose, releasing marine nutrients laid down in their bodies as they fed in the open ocean. This reintroduction provides a valuable research opportunity for interested parties.[7] Since the dam removal, reservoir beds that looked like moonscapes have returned to vibrant rich habitat. Within a year of the Elwha Dam removal, an increase in salmon-derived nutrients was documented in the American dipper.[8]
Glines Canyon Dam 210 ft (64 m) 2014
Great Works Dam 20 ft (6.1 m) Penobscot River ME 2012 Removed as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project.[9]
Veazie Dam 20 ft (6.1 m) 2013
Brown Bridge Dam 46 feet (14 m)[10] Boardman River MI 2012 Removed as part of the Boardman River Dams Ecosystem Restoration Project after hydropower from the dams was decommissioned in 2005.
Boardman Dam 56 ft (17 m)[11] 2017
Sabin Dam 34 ft (10 m)[12] 2018
San Clemente Dam 106 ft (32 m) Carmel River CA 2015 The dam was deemed unsafe in 1992 by the Department of Water Resources. It was no longer serving its use by supplying water to the Monterey Peninsula and blocked steelhead from spawning upstream.[13]

Planned and proposed removals

DamHeightRiverStateRemoval timeframeNotes
Copco Number 1 Dam 132 ft (40 m) Klamath River CA 2024 After more than 20 years of advocacy from the Un-Dam the Klamath movement, four dams on the Lower Klamath River are expected to be removed by 2024.[14]
Copco Number 2 Dam 2023
Iron Gate Dam 173 ft (53 m) 2024
John C. Boyle Dam 68 ft (21 m) OR 2024
Matilija Dam 198 ft (60 m) Matilija Creek CA
Rindge Dam 100 ft (30 m) Malibu Creek CA 2025–2035

By state or territory

Alabama

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

DamDam heightWatercourseRemoval completedNotes
Pinery Feeder Dam Cuyahoga River 2020 [15]
Brecksville Dam 8 ft (2.4 m)

Oregon

DamDam heightWatercourseRemoval completedNotes
Marie Dorian Dam 8 ft (2.4 m) Walla Walla River 1997 The dam blocked passage to Pacific Salmon and steelhead into the Blue Mountains from the Columbia Basin.

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vermont

Virginia

West Virginia

Wyoming

Washington, D.C.

Completed removals

DamDam heightWatercourseRemoval completedNotes
Island Woolen Mill Dam Baraboo River 1972 Opened 120 miles (190 km) of a Wisconsin River tributary to fish and wildlife.[16]
Reedsburg Woolen Mills Dam 1973
Wonewoc Dam 1996
Waterworks Dam 1998
Oak Street Dam 2000
LaValle Dam 2001
Linen Mill Dam 2001

Planned removals

DamHeightRiverRemoval timeframeNotes
Junction Falls Dam Kinnickinnic River 2023–2040 In 2018, River Falls, Wisconsin, approved the removal of two little-used dams in the city. This would return the Kinnickinnic River to a free-flowing state and restore the city's namesake falls.[17]
Powell Dam 2025–2040

References

  1. "Free Rivers: The State of Dam Removal in the United States" (PDF). americanrivers.org. American Rivers. February 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  2. Winter, Brian D. (April 1990). "A Brief Review of Dam Removal Efforts in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  3. McCully, Patrick (1996). "Getting Old: Dam Aging and Decommissioning". International Rivers. Zed Books. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  4. Springer, Abe; Ledbetter, Jeri. "Fossil Creek". azheritagewaters.nau.edu. Arizona Heritage Waters. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  5. Marks, Jane C.; Haden, George A.; O’Neill, Matthew; Pace, Cinnamon (November 2010). "Effects of Flow Restoration and Exotic Species Removal on Recovery of Native Fish: Lessons from a Dam Decommissioning". Restoration Ecology. 18 (6): 934–943. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2009.00574.x. S2CID 21724032.
  6. "Milltown Dam & Reservoir". www.missoulacounty.us. Missoula County, MT. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  7. "Salmon Populations". Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  8. Crane, Misti (December 28, 2015). "River ecosystems show 'incredible' initial recovery after dam removal". phys.org. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  9. "Penobscot River Restoration Project". 25 September 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  10. "Brown Bridge Dam Failure Report". www.michigan.gov. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. June 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  11. "Boardman Dam in Grand Traverse County, MI". The Record. April 7, 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  12. "Sabin Dam in Grand Traverse County, MI". The Record. April 7, 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  13. "Carmel River diverted to demolish San Clemente Dam". SFGate. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  14. Flaccus, Gillian (26 February 2022). "Major hurdle cleared in plan to demolish 4 Klamath River dams". opb. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  15. "Dam Removal". Cuyahoga Valley National Park. National Park Service. December 14, 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  16. "Running Free, The Baraboo River Restoration Story" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  17. Seitz, Grey (4 November 2022). "Federal funds could quicken Kinnickinnic River dam removal". www.stcroix360.com. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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