Location
UMass Amherst
Event Website
http://fishpassage.ecs.umass.edu/Conference2012/
Start Date
6-6-2012 1:30 PM
End Date
6-6-2012 1:50 PM
Description
One of the more significant challenges when removing a dam is to replace the current functions the dam may server. Dams can server economically beneficial roles such as providing water supply, flood control, recreational opportunities, and hydroelectric power. These services often justify the costs associated with long term dam maintenance and liability, and can make removing a dam infeasible. Increasingly, however, there are examples of dam removal projects that seek to replace some of these services while still restoring free flowing conditions and fish passage to a river. This presentation will focus on multiple dam removal examples where water intakes were modified to allow for continued flow diversion, dewatered impoundments were configured to enhance flow attenuation, and recreational opportunities were transformed from values gained from impoundments to values gained from flowing rivers. In addition, as future advancements in free standing kinetic turbines and turbines placed on closed conduit systems continues to progress, we can envision a future in which dams are no longer a necessary component for harnessing power from a river and rivers are allowed to once again flow free.
Session C5 - Replacing Dam Functions when Removing a Dam
UMass Amherst
One of the more significant challenges when removing a dam is to replace the current functions the dam may server. Dams can server economically beneficial roles such as providing water supply, flood control, recreational opportunities, and hydroelectric power. These services often justify the costs associated with long term dam maintenance and liability, and can make removing a dam infeasible. Increasingly, however, there are examples of dam removal projects that seek to replace some of these services while still restoring free flowing conditions and fish passage to a river. This presentation will focus on multiple dam removal examples where water intakes were modified to allow for continued flow diversion, dewatered impoundments were configured to enhance flow attenuation, and recreational opportunities were transformed from values gained from impoundments to values gained from flowing rivers. In addition, as future advancements in free standing kinetic turbines and turbines placed on closed conduit systems continues to progress, we can envision a future in which dams are no longer a necessary component for harnessing power from a river and rivers are allowed to once again flow free.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2012/June6/20
Comments
Laura Wildman has worked for over 23 years as a professional water resource/fisheries engineer focusing on dam removal and river restoration. Prior to establishing Princeton Hydro's New England Regional Office in 2009, Ms. Wildman worked on fish passage and dam removal as American Rivers' Chief Engineer where she initiated and led the Northeast Stream Barrier Task Force for 8 years. She has been involved in hundreds of dam removal an fish passage projects; working on all aspects of the projects from inception through design and construction. Ms. Wildman is considered one of the foremost national experts in dam removal and alternative fish passage, speaking regularly around the country on these subjects and developing and assisting with the instructing of courses at the University of Wisconsin and Yale in dam removal, fish passage and river processes and restoration. In 2009 she received a Leadership in Restoration award from NOAA's Restoration Center for her many years of dedicated service in fish passage engineering. Prior to working at Princeton Hydro, Ms. Wildman was Chief Engineer at American Rivers and initiated and led the Northeast Stream Barrier Task Force for 8 years. She is a current Governing Board member of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Environmental and Water Resource Institute, as well as the President Elect for the American Fisheries Society Bioengineering Section. In addition to dam removal and fish passage issues, Ms. Wildman has a strong background in fluvial geomorphology, fisheries habitat/flow analysis, dam modification/repair, open channel hydraulics, grant coordination, public outreach, policy, and advanced hydraulic and sediment transport modeling.