Mid-Atlantic streams have long been impaired due to thousands of dams installed since Colonial times. Interest is gaining in removing many of these dams for safety, improved recreational access, water quality and returning historic migration of anadromous fish. This presentation will feature four case studies of dams removed in the Brandywine-Christina Watershed since 2018. These projects include private and publicly owned dams, concrete and rubble structures and diverse funding sources.
Each presentation will cover; dam assessment, removal plans and permitting, public input and opposition, funding sources and removal methods. Most importantly, presentations will cover lessons learned from each project. Historically American Shad migration from the Delaware Bay into freshwater streams were an annual phenomenon supporting local native American communities and later commercial fish industries until poor lack of habitat and stream impairment severely limited the number of migrating fish. Learn about the Brandywine Shad 2020 initiative to remove or alter eleven dams on the Brandywine from Wilmington to the Pennsylvania border to allow for the migration of shad and other anadromous fish.
Brian Winslow, Brandywine Red Clay Alliance; Craig Thomas, Chester County Water Resources Authority; Gerald Kauffman, University of Delaware Water Resources Center
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