New York Rivers United: Dam Safety Hearing

New York State Assembly Hearing:
Dam Safety In New York State
February 9, 2006
Testimony by Bruce R. Carpenter
Executive Director
New York Rivers United



Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on this critically important issue facing our state.

First, some back ground. My name is Bruce Carpenter, Executive Director of New York Rivers United (NYRU). NYRU is 501© 3, statewide environmental conservation organization based in Rome, NY. Our members boat, hunt, fish and are generally river enthusiasts from across New York State. Our mission is “to conserve, protect and restore New York’s rivers.”

NYRU was founded because of a dam issue, FERC dams, those dams licensed and under the jurisdiction of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In 1992, NYRU was created to take on the relicensing issues of hydro dams through the FERC process, to represent the public views, to ensure there is a balance between hydro production and the environment. Since 1993, more than 50 hydro facilities have come up for relicensing. NYRU has played a major role in restoring instream flows, creating whitewater flows, bank stabilization, increased spawning grounds for migratory fish, and base flows for biodiversity and recreation on hundreds of river miles.

Our interest in dams and in watersheds in general led us to begin to look at dams across the state: their use and condition and how they are currently affecting our waterways. Our major problem was that dam removal was often not even being considered as a solution on some waterways. NYRU knows that removal may often be a very viable option.

All of New York State’s 17 major watersheds are fragmented and their health degraded by dams. There are 6,701 dams that impede our state’s streams and rivers. These dams exact a heavy toll on rivers and river life. Even small dams can have big impacts on the aquatic environment of a stream. Foremost among the casualties are fish passage, water quality and the downstream movement of sediments.

While our focus was on environmental issues, we soon released that many of these dams posed even greater threats in the communities where they were located. Many communities throughout the New York State face serious public safety and economic threats as a result of abandoned and deteriorating dams. These once-productive dams no longer serve in any beneficial way. The costs of maintenance, the costs to the environment and the liability associated with them make them a burden on the communities where they are located. The vast majority of these structures are municipally owned dams, not by choice but as the result of owner abandonment.

Our review led us to the state’s Dam Safety program, to ask questions of its practices and policies. To determine if, in fact, there was an adequate program to deal with the more than 6.000 dams. We found that there was a major problems. lack of staff, Second, that all or most of the program consumed by dams that had already failed, as opposed to a proactive campaign to eliminate, or at least reduce the overall burden and risk that communities faced. And, lastly, transparency, a lack of information, and a reluctance to publicly identify dams that had potential problems, a position we still fail to understand.

NYRU has been active on this problem, not by attacking those who do the work but working on policy efforts to reduce this risk. We are active members of the Barrier Task Force, organized by DEC, comprised of agencies and NGO’s working to address this situation. We have helped in developing criteria to assess some of these older structures and are in the process of groundtruthing that data.

We are currently working under an EPA grant to do evaluation of first barrier dams on Great Lakes tributaries. The goal is to identify projects that impede the restoration of native fish species. Some will be removed. We have been active in Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, which has identified stream and river restoration as a major goal. We are now working on the effort to secure funding for this type of activity.

But the bottom line is, this is a policy decision that must come from you and other leaders in Albany. If dam removal is to be part of the solution -- and we feel it should be -- you in the legislature must provide that direction.

We have entered the 21st century. Dam removal is a tool to repair damages that were not fully understood in times before. We know now that not all dams should be left in place. You must provide the laws; you must provide the funding to protect New York’s communities and enable the state’s agencies to expedite the process for protecting our waterways.

The possibility of dam removal is an option that should be considered on its merits. Dam removal for safety and for the express purpose of river and ecosystem restoration may be a worthwhile option. This removes the hazard, eliminates the liability and costs, and restores the river's natural values.

Thank you for this opportunity to address you today. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter more fully with any of you at any time.



Ten Reasons Why Dams Damage Rivers

(1) Dams reduce river levels
By diverting water for power, dams remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems. Stretches below dams are often completely de-watered.

(2) Dams block rivers
Dams prevent the flow of plants and nutrients, impede the migration of fish and other wildlife, and block recreational use. Fish passage structures can enable a percentage of fish to pass around a dam, but multiple dams along a river make safe travel unlikely.

(3) Dams slow rivers
Many fish species, such as salmon, depend on steady flows to flush them downriver early in their life and guide them upstream years later to spawn. Stagnant reservoir pools disorient migrating fish and significantly increase the duration of their migration.

(4) Dams alter water temperatures
By slowing water flow, most dams increase water temperatures. Other dams decrease temperatures by releasing cooled water from the reservoir bottom. Fish and other species are sensitive to these temperature irregularities, which often destroy native populations.

(5) Dams alter timing of flows
By withholding and then releasing water to generate power for peak demand periods, dams cause downstream stretches to alternate between no water and powerful surges that erode soil and vegetation, and flood or strand wildlife. These irregular releases destroy natural seasonal flow variations that trigger natural growth and reproduction cycles in many species.

(6) Dams fluctuate reservoir levels
Peaking power operations can cause dramatic changes in reservoir water levels -- often up to 40 feet -- which degrade shorelines and disturb fisheries, waterfowl, and bottom-dwelling organisms.

(7) Dams decrease oxygen levels in reservoir waters
When oxygen-deprived water is released from behind the dam, it kills fish downstream.

(8) Dams hold back silt, debris, and nutrients
By slowing flows, dams allow silt to collect on river bottoms and bury fish spawning habitat. Silt trapped above dams accumulates heavy metals and other pollutants. Gravel, logs and other debris are also trapped by dams, eliminating their use downstream as food and habitat.

(9) Dam turbines cut up fish
Following currents downstream, fish are drawn into and cut up by power turbines. When fish are trucked or barged around the dams, they experience increased stress and disease and decreased homing instincts.

(10) Dams increase predator risk
Warm, murky reservoirs often favor predators of naturally occurring species. In addition, passage through fish ladders or turbines injure or stun fish, making them easy prey for flying predators like gulls and herons.


Environmental Reasons for Removal

The process of blocking a moving river inherently changes the ecosystem, destroying the natural processes dependent on that system and hindering recreational activities. The impacts can include:

• Inundating wildlife habitat
• Reducing river levels
• Blocking or slowing river flows
• Altering timing of flows
• Fluctuating reservoir levels
• Altering water temperatures
• Decreasing water oxygen levels
• Obstructing the movement of gravel, woody debris, and nutrients
• Blocking or inhibiting upstream and downstream fish passage
• Altering public river access
• Impacting negatively the aesthetics and character of a natural setting

Benefits of Dam Removal

Removal is often the most environmentally-sound, cost-effective way to address the various safety, economic, and ecological issues surrounding an aging and/or obsolete dam. Dam removal has been shown to provide significant benefits to a river, river system, and riverside communities, including:

• Restoring river habitat
• Improving water quality
• Reestablishing fish passage upstream and downstream
• Restoring threatened and endangered species
• Removing dam safety risks and associated liability costs
• Saving taxpayer dollars
• Improving aesthetics of the river
• Improving fishing opportunities
• Improving recreational boating opportunities
• Improving public access to the river, both up and downstream
• Recreating “new” land for parks or landowners
• Improving riverside recreation
• Increasing tourism

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