Officials rejoice after fish populations expected to rebound following 'historical' dam removal: 'It was a beautiful'
In the town of Naples, Maine, experts expect local salmon populations to rebound after the removal of a dam, News Center Maine reported.
The town voted to remove the Edes Falls Dam after a contentious public battle that saw some residents rail against the removal of the dam and the construction of a new park slated to be built next to Crooked River.
However, the coalition of environmental groups and government institutions that led the effort to remove the dam — including the Sebago Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Lakes Environmental Association, and at least eight others — said that the move was crucial to allowing salmon populations to spawn. With the dam's removal, previously landlocked salmon and brook trout can now access critical spawning habitats upstream.
"It was a beautiful, historical dam, and I don't think anyone took it lightly," said Lakes Environmental Association Executive Director Colin Holme. "There is some loss with the historical structure, but the gain is for the native landlocked salmon of Sebago Lake."
While many dams seemed necessary or served an important purpose in the past, these structures changed the natural flow of rivers and disrupted ecosystems as they were intended to function.
That's why, these days, many historic dams are being removed to give wild animals the best possible chance to flourish in their natural habitats. Dam removal projects are also known to help improve long-term water quality for residents.
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In Washington, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe rejoiced recently after two ecosystem-disrupting dams were removed, allowing them to fish for coho salmon for the first time in more than 100 years.
The Elwha River dam removal in Washington resulted in the local ecosystem thriving, with more flora and fauna than before the removal.
A time-lapse video posted to Instagram from Ohio displays how magnificently an ecosystem can recover after a dam removal — and those are just a few of the many examples of river restorations happening all over the country.
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