Down go to Dams
- Fossil Creek was a spring-fed waterway sustaining an oasis in the middle of the Arizona desert.
- Nearly two years ago the plants were shut down, and an experiment began to unfold.
- Dams displace people and as a result have become increasingly controversial in the developing world.
- In 1999 engineers took apart the Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River after a long battle waged by environmentalists culminated in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s denial of a renewal permit.
- Within years, biologists observed with some surprise the return of scores of striped bass, alewife, American shad, Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, ospreys, kingfishers, cormorants and bald eagles.
- In most places where dams have been eliminated, the stories of the Kennebec and the Loire have been repeated.
- Water clarity and oxygen levels increase as flow comes back, and aquatic insects thrive again.
- The fossil creek restoration project offers a prime example of the kind of planning that could help minimize the damaging effects of dam removal.
- Sediments pose a much bigger problem in many other places, however. Six million cubic yards of dirt lie behind the Matilija Dam on the Matilija Creek in southern California.
- Many engineers who were once dedicated to building dams now find themselves instead working on decommissioning them.
Summary:
In the 20th century, Fossil Creek was known as a spring-fed waterway sustaining an oasis in the middle of Arizona desert. The wild river attracted many fished and hosts of animals and plants that are not able to live in other environments.But also, it attracts prospectors and settlers to the southwest. But somehow, nearly two years ago, the plants were shut down. The riverbed were seen with not much of water in nearly a century. Scientist started to monitor the ecosystem to see if it can recover after being very dry for so long and to see if native fish and plants are still able to hold again. The biologist have recorded unexpected problems. The sediments are are trapped behind the dams wall are causing the environment to wipe out insects and algae which are important food for fish. The fossil creek restoration project offers a prime example of the kind of planning that could help minimize the damaging effects of dam removal. If the sediments contain high levels of pollutants, the cost of removing them has to be weighed against the ability of the waterway to wash them away, especially from remote locations. At the fossil creek, the research team will document how the river recovers. Whether the native fish will prosper without intervention and whether the exotic fish will come back.
In the 20th century, Fossil Creek was known as a spring-fed waterway sustaining an oasis in the middle of Arizona desert. The wild river attracted many fished and hosts of animals and plants that are not able to live in other environments.But also, it attracts prospectors and settlers to the southwest. But somehow, nearly two years ago, the plants were shut down. The riverbed were seen with not much of water in nearly a century. Scientist started to monitor the ecosystem to see if it can recover after being very dry for so long and to see if native fish and plants are still able to hold again. The biologist have recorded unexpected problems. The sediments are are trapped behind the dams wall are causing the environment to wipe out insects and algae which are important food for fish. The fossil creek restoration project offers a prime example of the kind of planning that could help minimize the damaging effects of dam removal. If the sediments contain high levels of pollutants, the cost of removing them has to be weighed against the ability of the waterway to wash them away, especially from remote locations. At the fossil creek, the research team will document how the river recovers. Whether the native fish will prosper without intervention and whether the exotic fish will come back.