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History of the River
Restoration Movement |
Early Dam-Building Philosophy
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, America ascribed to an aggressive
dam-building philosophy. Beginning in the early 19th century, when they
were built mostly to power the mills of the Industrial Revolution, dams
were considered symbols of power, innovation, and technical progress. The
first levee was built on the Mississippi River in 1716. Since then, more
than 75,000 dams have been built on American rivers. For the most part,
ignorance and indifference to the adverse environmental impacts has accompanied
their construction. Hydroelectric power soon became a profitable venture,
and increasingly larger dams were built during the height of the dam-building
era, notably Hoover Dam on the Colorado River (1936), Bonneville Dam on
the Columbia River (1938), and Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River (1942). |
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Shifting Social Attitudes
In the last 30-40 years, social attitudes have shifted, becoming
more conservation-minded. (see History
of Environmental Movement) As citizens became more aware of
and concerned for the environment, they began to take action. As
an example, Sierra Club membership nearly quadrupled from 1965 –
1970 (from 33,000 to 114,000 members). This new-found activism was,
in large part, sparked by the protests of several major dam projects.
In the early 1950s, the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) legislation
outlined plans to build dams at, among other places, Echo Park and
Split Mountain, in Dinosaur National Monument. For six years, the
Sierra Club and other organizations successfully worked to defeat
this proposal, vying for the integrity of the National Park System.
Ultimately, the conservationists defeated the Echo Park Dams and
that victory is viewed as the birth of the modern environmental
movement in the United States. |
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Unfortunately, as a condition for scratching water development plans
at Echo Park within the CRSP, the Sierra Club agreed to allow the rest
of the CRSP projects to be approved without protest, including Glen Canyon
Dam. Soon after the Act was passed, the realization was made by conservationists
that a mistake had been made in allowing the Bureau of Reclamation to
begin construction of Glen Canyon Dam. Visitation to the doomed canyons
greatly increased after CRSP was passed. David Brower and the Sierra Club
attempted to thwart its construction, but it was too late. Efforts to
stop its construction were unsuccessful, and in 1963 Glen Canyon Dam was
completed on the Colorado River above Lee’s Ferry, inundating one
of the most beautiful places on earth by the waters of the Colorado River.
David Brower, the Sierra Club’s executive director at that time,
called Glen Canyon Dam “America’s most regretted environmental
mistake.”
Shortly after the passage of CRSP, the Bureau of Reclamation announced
plans for two massive dams in the Grand Canyon. David Brower and the Sierra
Club mounted a huge national campaign against the Grand Canyon Dams which
were ultimately defeated. One of the most memorable moments of this campaign
was when, David Brower, a champion of the early environmental movement,
took out full-page ads in the New York Times that asked, “Should
we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can get nearer the ceiling?”
Facets of the Modern River Restoration Movement
Current environmental attitudes have lead to a growing river restoration
movement. American Rivers is a major catalyst of the movement http://www.amrivers.org.
The movement’s major areas of attention include:
- Floodplain Protection: Floodplains act as sponges to store water,
filter sediment, and reduce the velocity of rivers during high-water periods.
Periodic flooding is crucial to the rejuvenation of riparian habitats.
This protection is key to the survival of many rivers, including, for
example, the Greater Yellowstone rivers, where construction is a major
threat.
- Hydropower Dam Relicensing: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) has jurisdiction over many hydropower dams, and must license them
to dam their rivers for hydropower generation. Licenses typically last
30-50 years. During the relicensing procedure, interested members of the
public can provide input into the Environmental Assessment (EA). This
is currently underway with the Santee-Cooper Hydroelectric Project. Bureau
of Reclamation dams are, however, not subject to FERC relicensing.
- Water Quantity: Inadequate flow in rivers is caused by over-allocation,
sprawl, and agriculture. Natural flow must preserve resources and values,
which include fish as well as recreation. American Rivers and the Washington
Environmental Council are working together to address this issue on the
rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
- Dam Removal: Actual dam removal has long been viewed as a radical,
fringe facet of the river restoration movement. The paradigm has shifted
over the last decade. Dams were considered to be built as environmentally
friendly as possible, and any undesirable fringe effects to the environment
were thought to be worth it, because of the net gain in benefits to society.
In response to an interview with David Brower in 1997, the Bureau of Reclamation
said, “As suggested by Mr. Brower, draining Lake Powell, ‘repairing’
Glen Canyon Dam, and refilling the reservoir some 200 years from now simply
makes no sense since there is nothing wrong with the dam in the first
place.” This is simply not true and modern scientific evidence is
continually exposing all types of complex and serious negative impacts
of damming free-flowing rivers.
As scientists continues to study dams, various issues associated with
dams are becoming better understood. For example, it is now known that
sedimentation buildup is a very real problem
for all dams: Because rivers transport sediment, any dams which stop the
flow of water also stop all sediment, thus rendering them temporary. Hundreds
of small dams have filled with sediment and are being considered for decommissioning.The
Matilija dam on the Ventura River, which is 200 feet high, has filled
with sediment, and it has become necessary to remove it to arrest further
destruction to the river corridor and ecosystem downstream. As another
example of negative impacts, the water in the Columbia River frequently
exceeds the maximum tolerable temperature as a result of dams, as outlined
in this EPA study: http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/WATER.NSF/0/780e02b8962f0b5e88256aed0058d4a1?
Technology has developed alternatives to dams, such as updated irrigation
methods, more efficient flood control, and alternative sources of power.
As wind, solar, and cleaner-burning fuel power become more accessible,
power production, becomes less of an issue for justifying dam construction. |
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Cartoon in the 1954 LA Times
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All dams are temporary
It's not a question of if a dam will need to be removed; it's only
a question of when. Some dams will outlive expectations; but some,
such as the Matilija and Ringe, will degenerate much more quickly
than expected, and will become major safety hazards. Even Glen Canyon
Dam, which is more than 500 feet tall, is filling rapidly with sediment
and has a useful lifespan of around 100 more years because of the
rapid rate of sediment builup behind the dam.
Dam removal is gaining increasing popularity with the public. Over
460 dams have been removed in the past 40 years. At the heart of
the River Restoration Movement is Glen Canyon Dam and the movement
to restore a healthy Colorado River. The loss of Glen Canyon was
a turning point in the birth of the modern Environmental Movement
and has been mourned since the dam's construction. As the symbolic
heart of the movement today, the movement to restore Glen Canyon
represents our society's realization of the value of free-flowing
rivers and complex ecosystems that depend upon them. Glen Canyon,
which was hailed by many as one of the most beautiful places on
earth, was lost to the thoughtless era of dam building. Subsequent
scientific evidence has shown that the destruction it has caused
was entirely unnecessary. As the most destructive and least useful
dam in the world, Glen Canyon Dam will ultimately be decommissioned
in our generation for a variety of reasons, including health and
safety issues, the jeopardy it poses to the water supply of millions,
as well as the environmental impacts to the side-canyons of the
Glen and the downstream Grand Canyon Environment. |
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Shifting Governmental
Attitudes
Governmental policy, shortly after the construction of Glen Canyon
Dam, began focusing on environmental protection.. Some key events
which have led to the increasing momentum of the River Restoration
Movement include:
· 1969: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): http://laws.fws.gov/lawsdigest/natlep.html
The purposes of this act are “to declare a national policy which
will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his
environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage
to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare
of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and
natural resources important to the Nation; and to establish a Council
on Environmental Quality.”
· 1970: Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) established: http://www.epa.gov/
The EPA’s mission is to “protect human health and to safeguard
the natural environment — air, water, and land — upon
which life depends.”
· 1972: Federal Water Pollution
Control Act: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/cwa.htm
Public concern over the pollution of waterways led to the creation
of this act, which regulates discharges of pollutants in American
waters.
· 1973: Endangered Species Act: http://www.epa.gov/region5/defs/html/esa.htm
This act would provide momentum to the environmental movement.
· 1976: Failure of the Teton Dam: http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/faculty/sylvester/Teton%20Dam/FrameSet.htm
This dam was breached just as the reservoir was nearing its full capacity
for the first time.
· 1977: Clean Water Act: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/cwa.htm
Came about as amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
· 1977: President Carter’s “Hit List”: “I
have stated many times that as President I will halt construction
of unnecessary dams by the Corps of Engineers.” This list temporarily
halted the construction of 19 water projects under the Army Corps
of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. This led Congress to eventually
passing the Water Resources Development Act of 1986.
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1991: The Two Forks Dam proposal on Colorado’s South Platte
River was killed.
· 1996 : Glen Canyon Institute founded
with the mission of restoring a freeflowing Colorado River through
Glen and Grand Canyons.
· 1999: Edwards Dam is removed
from Maine’s Kennebec River. At the event, when asked if other
dams should be removed, U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt replied,
“I’m quite confident it should be done, but I can’t
tell you where.”
· Present: Plans developing for
the removal of hundreds of dams, including the Matilija Dam on the
Ventura River. It is the largest ever slated for decommissioning. |
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Current Restoration Campaigns
Current major river restoration campaigns include:
Snake
River: http://www.amrivers.org/index.php?module=HyperContent&func=displayview&shortname=snake
Columbia
River: http://www.amrivers.org/index.php?module=HyperContent&func=displayview&shortname=co
Missouri
River: http://www.amrivers.org/index.php?module=HyperContent&func=displayview&shortname=mo
Colorado River: http://www.glencanyon.org |
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