Serena McClain, Associate Director of River Renewal
River Renewal, Restoring Rivers

The following piece was written by Laura Wildman, Director of River Science at American Rivers, and James MacBroom, Vice President for Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at Milone and MacBroom and Yale University lecturer on advanced hydrologic topics.

The June 24, 2008 New York Times article “Follow the Silt” continues an important dialogue on the restoration of disturbed rivers and the influence of human activity, including abandoned dams. 

The article is a great example of why monitoring of river restoration efforts is critical. We need more attention and funding dedicated to monitoring because the lessons we learn are essential to move the science of river restoration forward. It is also important for the river restoration community to develop a consistent set of guidelines for monitoring. Guidelines, like those recently developed by the Gulf of Maine Council and NOAA, can help standardize efforts so that lessons can be better documented, compared and distributed through online repositories like the University of California-Berkeley Dam Removal Clearinghouse . 

Another important point that the article could have examined more is that the regional differences in dam removal projects can be quite significant.  While some low lying areas like those studied by Drs. Merritts and Walter may be dominated by remnant silt deposits, in other regions with steeper rivers and more confined river valleys little trace may remain of the sediments once impounded behind dams.  

Rivers tend to behave differently depending on where they are and thus there is no universal solution to describe the state of rivers.  Removing all sediment from abandoned dams prior to removal is neither realistic nor necessary to achieve long-term benefits to every river.  Sustainable river management has to consider a broad spectrum of natural phenomena plus community constraints.  While improving ecological value to impaired systems is needed, returning an ecosystem to an idealized time period is not always practical or cost effective, especially considering the sheer number of unmaintained dams at risk of imminent failure.

Public attention to dam removals has increased in recent years because of the numbers of outdated or abandoned dams being removed, and the numbers of unsafe or high-hazard dams near communities.

According to state dam safety records in three northeastern states, over 408 small dams experienced overtopping, damage or failure during two heavy rainfall events in 2005 and 2006. Dam failures can jeopardize public safety, damage property, harm wildlife, and release contaminants. 

In contrast, planned removal of unwanted dams involves careful assessment of the dam’s uses, structural condition, and sediment quality as well as steps for returning the river to a more natural course.  An engineered dam removal requires regulatory permits that include numerous safety and environmental precautions. Dam removal projects undertaken by experienced professionals provide ecological benefits and help eliminate human and environmental risks of dam failures. 

As pointed out in the article “Aging Infrastructure and Ecosystem Restoration,” in the January 18, 2008 issue of Science, Dr. Martin Doyle, et al states that the removal of obsolete dams has become a necessity.  This study on aging infrastructure, published adjacent to the Merritts and Walter paper, states “(t)he greatest lesson from current aging infrastructure is the need for exit strategies.”

This is indeed an exciting time for the science and practice of river restoration.  The Merritts and Walter research adds another important piece to the puzzle and each new piece allows us to better understand and restore river ecosystems that have been subjected to a long history of impacts. 

Serena McClain, Associate Director of River Renewal
River Renewal, Restoring Rivers

On June 25, 51 volunteers, donating 167.5 hours, gathered at the site of the soon-to-be former Gruendyke Dam on the Musconetcong River in New Jersey to clean up the stream and remove all of those tires you see above. The clean-up was organized by Trout Unlimited with help from the Musconetcong Watershed Association, New Jersey Fish & Wildlife, area high school students, and many others.

The Gruendyke Dam is being removed to restore the Wild & Scenic Musconetcong River, and as the river restored itself to its pre-dam levels over the past couple of months, an amazing number of tires were discovered behind the dam.

Stories I am hearing from the clean-up are the kind that warm your heart and make you feel good about the work that you do. Strong partnerships are behind this restoration, and everyone’s commitment to a free-flowing Musconetcong River was cemented as tires were pulled from the new streambanks. People actually stopped by the site to thank everyone for the work they were doing and to tell them about other dams they should remove!

The great news is that this isn’t the end of the story for the Musconetcong! The removal of the Gruendyke Dam is only the first step in a Musconetcong River that flows freely, providing easier passage for the canoeists, kayakers, and migratory fish that use the river and giving local communities a beautiful river where they’ll be proud to bring their families. This summer the Musconetcong Watershed Association will begin a study assessing the removal of the Finesville Dam with funding provided by American Rivers through our cooperative partnership with the NOAA Community-based Restoration Center. 

I think Jim’s sticker (Jim is the owner of the Finesville Dam and is pictured above with the owner of the Gruendyke Dam) says it best. Free the Musky!

Photo Credits (in order of appearance): Bill Leavens, Musconetcong Watershed Association, Brian Cowden

During River Action Day in D.C., I had the pleasure of lobbying with two experienced river advocates:  Mike Fremont of Rivers Unlimited (Mike is also one of the founding members of American Rivers) and Marilyn Wall of Sierra Club.  Both exude a knowledge and passion for rivers.  I’d like to thank them both for a great day.    

Now that we’re back in our home states, it is time to celebrate the rivers we aim to protect.  Two river events are being held this weekend by various groups in Ohio.  One is a river trip on the Little Miami River on June 28th in Cincinnati, which Ohio Environmental Council graciously planned.  I am extremely excited since this will be my first ride down a Wild and Scenic River.    

The other is an event called Paddlefest 2008.  This event is also this weekend and in Cincinnati.  Talk about getting people excited to be on the water!!  Check it out and hope to see you there! 

I recently went down to Chesterfield County, VA to once again join the James River Advisory committee for their annual James River Cleanup. JRAC coordinates the efforts of ten different cleanup sites in the Richmond metropolitan area every June. This year was another successful event. The site I helped out at collected an entire trash truck full of garbage and recyclables. Once again the main offenders along this stretch were plastic and glass bottles and gobs and gobs of monofilament fishing line which really irritates me to think that anglers, people who have vested interest in protecting fish and wildlife, could be so careless.

Lightning (metaphorically speaking) struck the Chesterfield cleanup again this year when someone found ANOTHER bowling ball, just like last year, at the site – very strange.

Thanks for all the hard work the folks at JRAC put into this cleanup and to Boy Scout Troop 924 from Hopewell, VA for the excellent lunchtime cookout.

I look forward to seeing y’all again next year.

Last week 115 river advocates from across the country came to Washington, DC to participate in American Rivers’ 5th Annual River Action Day. This event provides a unique opportunity for concerned river conservationists to meet with their members of congress to discuss pressing policy issues impacting the health of the rivers in their community and across the country.

River Action Day 2008 set several new records including the most participants, the most meetings (280), and the most meetings with members of Congress (28). This year’s policy agenda was centered on growing the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program by calling for the designation of several new Wild and Scenic Rivers. On the same day River Action Day participants fanned out across Capitol Hill, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced his “Oregon Treasures” bill in the Senate which would designate 143 miles of Oregon’s river as Wild and Scenic including a stretch of the Rogue River. This bill is a major step in the right direction towards permanently protecting some of our Northwest’s most significant rivers and helping the communities they flow through become more sustainable; as their rivers are protected, for their ecological, recreational, and economic benefits.

River Action Day participants also stressed the importance for Congress to act in the face of the growing climate crisis by urging them to continue working on legislation that will both cut U.S. carbon emissions thus reducing our contribution to global warming and also address the needs for our country to take the necessary steps towards adapting to the imminent impacts of climate change.

River Action Day culminated in grand fashion with a gala celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and marking the 35th anniversary of our organization. American Rivers presented three awards to congressional river champions Chairman Nick Rahall of West Virginia, Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Susan Thomas the widow of Sen. Craig Thomas of Wyoming for their outstanding leadership to revitalize the Wild and Scenic Rivers program. The star studded event was attended by actors Michael Keaton and Tom Skerritt, several senators, Us Representatives and top brass from various federal agencies.

Once again, River Action Day pulled together the collective voice of river conservationists and their message was heard loudly on Capitol Hill that Congress has the responsibility to protect our rivers and freshwater resources.

Thank you to all who participated and I hope to see you next year.

As many of us know organizing an extended river trip for even a small number of people can be time consuming. You have to set up shuttles, buy the food, and make sure everybody has the gear to make it through the trip. The Georgia River Network has organized an extended river trip for the last 3 years called Paddle Georgia.

This year they had the best showing yet with over 300 participants! One more time- 300 participants! The 92 mile trip is taking place June 21-27 on the Flint River in Southwest Georgia. The Flint is an incredible river, in fact it is one of only 42 free flowing rivers over 125 miles long in the lower 48. For more on the Flint, view the PDF.

I was only able to paddle the first day (long enough to catch my first shoal bass on a fly). It was a beautiful 13 mile stretch of river but unfortunately the water was extremely low due in large to upstream water withdrawals. As weather patterns change and drought becomes increasingly common in the southeast it is going to be critically important for states like Georgia to adopt smart water withdrawal policies that protect the regions most valuable resources. Events like Paddle Georgia and programs like Blue Trails aim to connect people to these resources and to hopefully build a constituency for their protection including advocating for smart water withdrawal policies.

Katie Swartz, Conservation Associate
Healthy Waters Campaign, Great Lakes Region

On Friday, June 6, 2008, I had the opportunity to paddle alongside Jim Bennett with 12 others down Swan Creek in Toledo. Jim was one of three men who canoed this 10 mile strip in the 1960s. The purpose of this trip was to get a sense of what has been cleaned up and where the problems still lie since his first trip over forty years ago.

Throughout much of the first six miles, we found ourselves portaging around log jams that we found were too thick for chainsaws. We saw rather normal flood debris and bottles and cans from runoff. This stretch went through Swan Creek Metropark, which typically gets cleaned up once or twice a year through organized river clean ups.

We then stopped for a short while at Highland Park Dam to eat lunch, where Partners for Clean Streams is working on a dam decommissioning and riparian enhancement project.

The second leg of the trip headed towards downtown to where Swan Creek empties into the Maumee River. Along this section we saw an Army Corps of Engineer’s levee project, several residential areas where the creek seemed more like a dumping ground for old bicycles and mattresses, and several storm and combined sewer outfalls. My canoe-mate convinced me to paddle into one of the outfalls - scary experience (possible revenge for the accidental tipping of the canoe about 45 minutes into the trip - glad to know the PDA is working again!).

Overall, it was a great experience and one that I will never forget. Thanks to Jim Bennett for sharing his experience, Partners for Clean Streams for putting this trip together, and Matt Horvat for putting up with me for 7 hours in a canoe.

Please check out a short video of our trip and the article by Steve Pollick of the Blade who also spent the day with us on the creek.

Saturday, June 7, is National Trails Day and what better way to celebrate than to get out on a trail. There are plenty of trail events taking place across the country this month. Here are just a few.

Southeast: In June, American Rivers and the friends of the Congaree River Blue Trail will launch a new water-proof map and online interpretative of the Congaree River Blue Trail in South Carolina. More information coming soon!

Mid-Atlantic: Starting June 2, the Anacostia Watershed Society is sponsoring Paddle to the Bay, a 120-mile paddling & camping expedition along the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

Northeast: Connecticut will celebrate its first annual Water Trails Day on June 14, with paddle trips on 11 water trails in the state ranging from Coastal and Whitewater to Flatwater.

Nationwide: The American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day program inspires the public and trail enthusiasts nationwide to seek out their favorite trails to discover, learn about, and celebrate trails while participating in educations exhibits, trails dedications, gear demonstrations, instructional workshops, and trail work project. They offer a nationwide database where you can find an event in your area or post information about an event you are holding.

Nationwide: REI is sponsoring trail events across the country. Find an event near you.

BRIDGTON (May 25, 2008): As Kenneth Graham wrote in the children’s classic The Wind in the Willows, “There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing than messing about in boats.”

The more than 30 professional guides, instructors and adventurers that will lead the 22nd annual Maine Canoe Symposium, June 6-8 at Winona Camps for boys in Bridgton, heartily share this sentiment.

“We welcome people of all ages and skill levels to come join a friendly community that is excited to share their canoeing experience and expertise with all who share a desire to be on the water in a canoe,” David Butler, symposium organizer and a Registered Maine Guide said.

The volunteer-run symposium will bring together people from throughout North America to learn about the art and heritage of canoeing and enable them to develop skills to fully enjoy the sport.

Jamie Mierau, Director
Blue Trails, River Heritage

The Potomac River Rambles are a series of weekend canoeing and kayaking expeditions that feature educational programming, riverside camping, restoration projects, festive meals, meeting with elected officials, and much more.  Novice and experienced paddlers alike enjoy a unique on-the-water experience.  The Rambles aim to elevate awareness of the Potomac River’s importance to the region and to encourage local residents to play an active role in its restoration.  Find out more information and register with the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.