Rivers are wild and ever-changing; they are born to run free. And yet, more than 550,000 dams of all sizes choke rivers across our country. While many provide useful services including hydropower and water supply, many outdated, obsolete, and unsafe dams threaten rivers and communities. Dams contribute to the extinction of aquatic species, overall decline of river health, emission of greenhouse gases from reservoirs, and the destruction of Indigenous cultural sites and lifeways. Removing dams is the single most impactful way to bring a river back to life.
Low-head dams are hazards to public safety. These dams, while generally smaller in size, are not small in their impact or danger. Water continuously flows over the crest of these dams, which can create a recirculating hydraulic at the base of the dam which can entrap and drown people recreating near it. More than 1,400 fatalities have been recorded at these structures. Removing these structures is a permanent solution to the safety hazard they impose.
Learn how to #VoteRivers in this election
Four easy things you can do to be a confident voice for rivers on Election Day
Since 1912. more than 2,100 dams have been removed to restore rivers. Free-flowing rivers promote healthy habitat for wildlife, reduce flood risk to communities, and support cultural traditions. Up to 85 percent of the 90,000 dams cataloged by the US Army Corps of Engineers are unnecessary, harmful, and even dangerous. We must remove thousands of them quickly.
Dams are infrastructure and we need elected leaders who are ready to address water infrastructure to restore rivers and protect public safety. We need laws that support the removal of obsolete and unsafe dams and ensure that dams staying in place are maintained to protect nearby communities. That’s why it’s important to #VoteRivers this November.
As the impacts of climate change stress our rivers, we need to restore them to their natural free-flowing state. Undammed rivers are better able to adapt to climate change while supporting healthy ecosystems and providing clean drinking water. When we #VoteRivers, we are voting for free-flowing rivers, for clean water, and for our future.
