The campaign to demolish dams in the US intensifies with federal funding

[@user-jk3zj1cr5u]

Seems like a whole dam process

[@Bowlyful]

Nice one 😎

[@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket]

I love Dams and a big proponent for them. However we have a TON of unused dams that aren't being properly maintained. Most were built almost a century ago to build out cheap power but they stopped supply power decades ago. The only real I don't like dams is the environmental damage; if we're not using them they shouldn't exist. Obviously another use is flood water or farming but once again most of the dams being removed are completely unused.

[@bigfoot163]

In california we have electricity shortages and water shortages and we are taking out dams 😂😂😂😂😂

[@BigDaddyLongdick-n4f]

​@@bigfoot163I would use them to generate power but I'm just a dumb redneck

[@brentlowry3078]

That's awesome they saved many local residents before removing the dam.

[@anthonywebb269]

As a fisherman I’m excited to see this happen . I love fishing dams but if it’s hurting the fish then definitely get rid of them

[@benhoskins4719]

I live just up river from a hydroelectric spillway along the Cumberland River. Kentucky utilities built it in the 60s and never put it online because this is coal country😂🙄

[@cashaeleatemla]

On the whooshing Watauga River, excavators claw at the remains of Shulls Mill Dam, pulling concrete apart piece by piece and gradually opening a waterway kept in check for nearly two centuries. Removal of this privately-owned hydropower dam in western North Carolina will be a boon for rafters, kayakers and tubers by allowing the river to flow freely for nearly 80 miles (129 kilometers). But maybe the biggest beneficiary will be a strange, ancient creature known as the eastern hellbender salamander. Sometimes called a snot otter or Allegheny alligator, it's North America's largest salamander and can reach two feet (61 centimeters) in length. But the salamander's range in places such as southern Appalachia has shrunk and its numbers are down 70% over the past 50 years. Demolition of Shulls Mill Dam is part of a national trend to return rivers to their natural state by removing aging, sometimes derelict structures that once powered mills, irrigated farmland or impounded water. Aimed at boosting biodiversity, improving water quality and strengthening flood protection amid worsening storms, the campaign to demolish dams dates back several decades but has intensified with a once-in-a-generation funding infusion from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

[@lordhelwintr283]

O so it’s destroying current infrastructure not replacing our crumbling roads and bridges or upgrading our power grid.

[@randalfpeterson5317]

​@@lordhelwintr283, removing crumbling harmful useless dams are important parts of maintaining our nation's infrastructure. Avoid the False Dichotomy, All problems need to be addressed.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

​@@lordhelwintr283 And people wonder why inflation is out of control. Our tax dollars being used to destroy hydroelectricity dams.

[@RedFlyRuledByTheRiff]

Amazing salamanders! Thank you for moving them!

[@gw7120]

Unused damns ofc , but removing your fresh water damns is drastic action

[@johnwright6706]

Member when we used to build things and maintain them? Member that?

[@deserttrailscout]

They’re removing dams that no longer serve a purpose so why would they maintain them???

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Some dams are too old and are worth being maintained. And besides they have outlived their usefulness or their purpose.

[@Abcdefg-ky6gg]

I do remember when a member of this country would know English. Remember that?

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@@Abcdefg-ky6gg Since the founding of this country there have always been immigrants that could not speak English. I don't know what you are going on about!!

[@thejovialjester]

Fun fact about this. Even though there are funds available, there are communities who resist this. In South Whitehall Township in Pennsylvania, Federal Funds were available to totally remove a local dam, but the residents complained so much that the township caved under pressure and did not remove the dam. The opposite occurred and the taxpayers spent almost $1 million in restoring the dam.

[@America-First2024]

Both are taxpayer’s money Federal funds = taxpayer’s money Taxpayer’s money = Taxpayer’s money

[@fergielicious78]

I'm pretty sure it's not caving, it's literally their job to LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE. you must be a Biden voter 😂

[@ryhol5417]

It’s going to be great for wildlife, better for hunting, recreation, and fishing. Couldn’t tell if it’s navigable

[@trinasyoutube]

I had no idea this was happening but dams have to be causing ecosystem issues.

[@jh-hh6vs]

I think this is a great use of federal funds.

[@SK-rs1hu]

How do I get a job helping with this?

[@benhoskins4719]

Just upstream from Pineville KY is a dam that holds back what has always been called "Lake Mistake". A 50' spillway was constructed near the confluence of clear creek and the cumberland river for flood prevention, but it doesn't help in that regard at all, never has. The spillway has who knows how many massive eastern hemlock logs jammed on the upper side, they wash over the top at flood stage occasionally. The state would never remove the dam on their own as they benefit from the golf course around the lake, but the water on the course can be re-worked and a uselss spillway removed before it fails during a flood and sends all that extra flow towards town all at once.

[@Elburion]

Time to take the Dam tour.

[@mr.stotruppen8724]

INSHALLAH THE TROUT SHALL BE FREE

[@crowpvpgod4537]

I support dam removals all across the nation! More must be done to restore the wild.

[@procrastinator41]

“I don’t want to go in the cooler”

[@TheJensss]

why not modernize them instead to minimize local environment impact and build out hydropower.

[@PatG-xd8qn]

Most of them are so small that they wouldn't generate much power. Most of them were used for irrigation, to power a saw mill, for log driving on small rivers or to control flooding in a local area.

[@craigsurette3438]

I am with you. I would much rather these dams be rebuilt for local small scale hydropower for their communities. However the dams are often in bad enough shape that they would functionally need to be more or less rebuilt anyway to keep using

[@TheJensss]

@@PatG-xd8qn A lot of small dams would eventually create a lot of power. Just like a single solar panel does not produce much, but many of them do.

[@TheJensss]

@@craigsurette3438 Rebuilding is often easier and cheaper than renewing something old. We need power and much more of it in the future so we should take the opportunities we have.

[@PatG-xd8qn]

@@TheJensss This is not how electricity works. Building and maintaining huge infrastructures to generate and transport tiny amounts of power would end up costing way more than it would bring. A small dam that powered a small saw mill would only generate enough electricity to power a few electric tools, only during some short periods of time in the year when there's enough water in the small creeks... You won't start building and maintaining hundreds of kilometers of transmission lines in the middle of nowhere just for that.

[@craigsurette3438]

The messed up part about this, is that inside of a generation, there will be a need for a nation wide push for local small community scale hydro power for Green energy . Basically they are knocking down these dams, only to need to put ideally better built ones up in the same places within the next 50ish to a hundred years

[@America-First2024]

And that’s how government works

[@IELife-de2oc]

Yep

[@blatantmoose454]

Most of the dams they are removing are completely unused and useless. They do not provide power anymore and are ancient structures that don’t work. There are many great dams, but these small ones are not active that they remove

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

No, actually more environmentally sensitive renewable energy technology are gradually replacing the need for hydro dams. Solar and wind are just two examples. There is even technology that does without the giant wind turbines.

[@IELife-de2oc]

No

[@spartansas36]

Dam removals. Ask the RAF's Squadron 617 to help

[@OffGridInvestor]

There goes the chance of saving any salamanders

[@Kyd42]

Why were the dams initially built?

[@juju-xx5xn]

Hydropower, irrigation, grist mills, these are some of the reasons why. Grist mills were commonplace during the 1700's, 1800's and some of the 1900's.

[@CraftEccentricity]

To hold back catastrophic flood waters

[@DT-ww4gv]

To hold back flooding and to be able to have water during dry periods of the year. These people are F**ked in the head.

[@Kyd42]

@@juju-xx5xn With the exception of irrigation, the others have long since gone away? I didn’t see anything, even fallen down, near the dam to indicate it was being used for hydropower or grist mills (which is just non-electrical hydropower). The story should have included how the dams were once used but no longer necessary in today’s world.

[@Sliceofthepie88]

@@Kyd42 The dams where built so "people" felt like there researching was a legitimate education.

[@Manish_Kumar_Singh]

Would rather install new low head turbines insted and use the power supply locally. The ecosystem has alredy adjusted to the flow and the location is much greener due to the dam. Fish ladders can solve the rest. I doubt there are any civil engineers in that team

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Fish ladders are not much of a help when the dam is too old to be maintained. All dams have an expiration date which can be extended, but only up to a point. That's the reality!!

[@malakis69]

As long as people don’t rely on that as a source of water thats cool

[@willieverusethis]

Great news!

[@hamiltonb1159]

Great to hear!

[@maforever4144]

This is where the infrastructure funds are going? Would think money would be better spent restoring outdated and damaged water systems that supply water to cities

[@glenhaase6817]

This may shock you, but infrastructure spending is going to these projects AND the ones you mentioned. The average cost of these dam removals is around 1.2-1.5 million (which is partially coming from the state budgets, not just federal funds) and the infrastructure bill was for 1 TRILLION dollars, meaning a project like this is a drop in the bucket of the federal infrastructure funding.

[@Llano754]

@@glenhaase6817 haven’t seen or heard much of it being used down here in Texas yet, and I ain’t holding my breath that I will see it anytime soon.

[@DeltaEchoGolf]

@@Llano754 When it comes to infrastructure spending. The first thing that comes to mind is the East coast and the upper Midwest. Rust buckets where having a bridge collapse is almost mandatory so they can go beg for more funding!

[@user-nc6qh7kf9h]

PEOPLE THAT LIVE BELOW THEL DAM .... MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE... 😊😊😊

[@0megacron]

Well... dam.

[@brucekuehn4031]

Save the birds - tear down the wind turbines!

[@America-First2024]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@haroldsmith45302]

Flood control?

[@CormacHolland]

Here’s the flood control: not building on floodplains. Simple as that. Let nature do what it’s meant to do, floodplains are meant to flood.

[@JohnMacFergus-oz5cp]

Great. Let nature do it's job again.

[@creativemindplay]

What are those people throwing rocks at at the beginning?

[@FlyxPat]

just playing.

[@man-who-sold-the-world]

Taliban, they were stoning a woman.

[@homeplanet365]

Put a hole at the bottom of the dam, under the down stream waterline first, and see how the fish and salamanders like it.

[@whiskerbiscuit6674]

That would take far more effort than just breaking it.

[@MuhammadAliInTheRing]

Save the beavers!

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

Save the Muslims Muhammad, save the Boxers Right? Don't you agree? Please stop being a "useful idiot".

[@guttercherry6507]

Love it!

[@jeffj2495]

If the dams served no purposed, then why were they installed in the first place?

[@treefarm3288]

Read the first comment.

[@wm-fm1ts]

Originally, this one powered a sawmill. However, that mill no longer exists, and the dam has fallen into disrepair. Many, many structures like this exist throughout the US, and they become hazards. They could fail and cause flooding. Removing them is important for safety and for the environment.

[@craigsurette3438]

They had an original purpose for powering local saw mills etc back over a hundred hears ago. When the mill closed, they never took the dam down, and now its there falling apart and messing stuff up

[@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695]

Unacceptable if it can power a mill it can produce electricity or still power a mill the bakers corner flour in my pantry has traveled over 400 miles just to transport the bagged flour to my grocery store meanwhile there's grain production in my county and historically there were three gristmills a days horse ride from me(15miles round trip)

[@randalfpeterson5317]

​@@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695, the size of the dam in the video produced a small amount of power. The cost of upgrades needed to keep it safe and functional would be more expensive than the profits gained from selling electricity.

[@armageddonready4071]

Follow the money. ALL OF IT. Glad this project is getting done, I’m just curious how much money go to the actual work, and how much goes to the second home, vacation, and slush fund?

[@America-First2024]

10%-20% for the actual work

[@blondie7240]

Damns prevent flooding and droughts.

[@Farkmaster]

Your analysis is as useful as your spelling. This dam is a mill dam, it says so right in the name, as was the other in the area. It wasn't used for water management, it was used for the same reason most obsolete dams were; industry. This particular dam was already partially breached and wasn't maintained. The question isn't whether it should be there or not, the question is whether this and thousands of other dangerous ruins of mill dams, pulp dams, paper dams etc. will be correctly disposed of to improve the ecology and safety of the river. As an avid canoer, one of the most dangerous things you can encounter are breached dams. This will open up the area to recreational activity bringing in money.

[@blondie7240]

@@Farkmaster nice ad hominem fallacy

[@PeterOliver]

@@blondie7240 Are you a bot based on being a 14 year old who has access to Wikipedia or something?

[@blondie7240]

@@PeterOliver and ditto to you

[@raincoast9010]

@@blondie7240 ouch!

[@lucasaquino123]

I hope they keep part of the structures for preserving the built heritage aspect of the dams. Those could be interesting historical sites and nice points of interest for hiking

[@PeterOliver]

You want random concrete blocks to by the rivers edge? No thanks.

[@lucasaquino123]

@@PeterOliver I mean, if done nicely, they could serve as historical landmarks. Also they could serve as habitats for small reptiles and insects

[@westrim]

@@lucasaquino123 The rocks and silt flowing freely will do a better job of being habitat.

[@Llano754]

@@PeterOliver I would think it interesting to see evidence of an old dam that used to be there, but that is just because I like coming across abandoned structures and ruins. My uncle has an old stone fence on his property that is nearly completely covered by brush, for example. I always find it interesting when hiking around his place and I come across a section I didn’t know about before.

[@bigfoot163]

😂😂 sems like they where doing just fine 😂😂😂

[@gregorymalchuk272]

The government shouldn't be subsidizing the destruction of hydroelectricity dams.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

When old dams like these are torn down it's actually a win win for the environment. The dams are often old mill dams providing power to lumber mills that are no longer in business. These dams aren't worth rebuilding because of the costs. And dams do not last forever.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@michaeldeierhoi4096 We are in an energy crisis. Global warming and fuel depletion constitute the worst energy crisis in humanity's history. Hydroelectricity is the single cheapest and most reliable electricity source. The loss of several tens of megawatts will be seen as catastrophic when electricity costs 50 cents per kWh and rotating blackouts begin.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@@gregorymalchuk272 Except that no electricity is lost from these dams that are being taken down. They are old dams that aren't even producing power. And it would cost MORE to upgrade them than the energy they might produce later. You are also forgetting that all dams have an expiration date. They don't last forever.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@michaeldeierhoi4096 The dams could have been rehabilitated to produce power, or a new dam could be built on the same spot. Your payback period estimates are based of of historic electricity prices, not the ones coming when the energy crunch really hits. The concrete in the Hoover dam isn't even done curing. Dams could last for several thousand years.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

@@gregorymalchuk272 Sounds you have ample fairy tales to tell yourself at bedtime every night. Sleep tight.

[@clairebear1808]

Thank President Biden

[@TheBostricano]

Yes!!! Thank you President Biden!!

[@donaldharlan3981]

That person doesn't know what he's talking about. There was a purpose for those dams. In a few years, the dams will probably be restored.

[@manfredstrappen7491]

The dam hadn’t been serving any purpose since the 1940’s. Tell us why the rebuild it?

[@donaldharlan3981]

@@manfredstrappen7491 That dam was built to slow the runoff and erosion. 🦎 I love the salamanders. 🏞️ Given time, the dams will return and that is okay. 🌲 Beavers could do that naturally. 🌊

[@a-_-s]

What’s glossed over in this video is the “watershed restoration.” Dam removal is a component of this but not the only part. The whole picture is restoring the ecosystem to the point it’s self sustaining again. There are better, safer, and more environmentally friendly ways to manage runoff and erosion than a bunch of concrete infrastructure.

[@redbarchetta8782]

Making a mess out of something that should have been a positive is the government way.

[@LH-ot5rk]

100%

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Posting a vague and general comment on a video adds nothing to the conversation. What mess are you talking about for example?

[@Thewhippedhippie]

Hydro electric is the cleanest power on the planet. But we still live in The Anxiety Age. Defense rules humanity. One day will focus on comfort for all humanity

[@strongbird3499]

One day, if we survive, we will focus on living within our ecological means.

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

@@strongbird3499 - What does that even mean? You are completely propaganda brainwashed. It is not possible according to your false beliefs. It will literally destroy Western Civilization and the Middle Class, stunting and removing all human development to this point, and creating poverty and suffering for hundreds of Millions of people for no real reason, and no benefit to them or Wildlife/ the Environment.

[@HKim0072]

Maybe you should do some research on the impacts downstream in China or Iraq.

[@Thewhippedhippie]

@@HKim0072 I was only making the point it’s clean energy. Hydro electric power. I understand what dams do to society’s.

[@daleolson3506]

When these carbon fanatics don’t have electricity or can’t afford it,then there will be a push for more dams to create cheep electricity. Idiots

[@halebop12]

By all means, shut down our coal, our dams and any other source of energy so we are completely dependant on Foriegn Nations. How many dams have been a part of this so far? Or what others are scheduled?

[@jeffj2495]

These are old dams. They are not producing any hydroelectric power. A very tall dam is needed for that.

[@matthew3136]

🤡

[@PatG-xd8qn]

These dams were used for log driving, for irrigation, to power a saw mill or to control flooding in a local area They aren't large enough to generate hydropower

[@America-First2024]

“Irrigation… control flooding” hmmm… interesting

[@PatG-xd8qn]

@@America-First2024 They were actually mostly used for log driving and to power some saw mills.

[@savannahm.laurentian1286]

As an indigenous woman, i fought hard for scholarship to east coast college, with apologies to my alma mater & my father, i am left with: duh!

[@awesomedavid2012]

Ah yes I also like to destroy renewable energy sources

[@randyearles1634]

these hundreds of dams didn't do anything for renewable energy. It takes a big dam and structures to generate electricity cost effectively.

[@HKim0072]

@@randyearles1634 lol, people don't realize how tall an hydroelectric plant needs to be.

[@wm-fm1ts]

Would you prefer for an old, unmaintained dam once built to power a sawmill that hasn't existed for many decades be left up to rot until it fails and the rushing water floods a town downstream? Do you consider removing damaged wind turbine blades to be "destroying renewable energy sources"? This dam wasn't powering anything, was a ticking time bomb of a flood hazard, and was detrimental to aquatic life.

[@HKim0072]

Part of the infrastructure bill!

[@jamesellis2784]

Uncorporated, Genoside, We don’t have 🎉an infrastructure congress Arizona Yavapia county , 85332 , send. Humanitarian aid , education,

[@piggypoo]

This guy speaks in run-on sentences. And then comes the lady who ends every sentence with an upward inflection.

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

I don't think you even know what a run-on sentence is?!

[@JLC87420]

😂😂😂 such ignorance.

[@IbexWatcher]

I love the trend of dam removal across the U.S.! Super beneficial for wildlife habitat, recreation, water quality, access, and so much more

[@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695]

So is global warming better ? many of these dams powerd gristmills,, it's bull*hit that the flour in my pantry has traveled over 400 miles from mill to store not including farm to mill or store to home you factor that in and we could double that number, totally unacceptable there were three mills a horse ride from me and we still have grain farming in my county to this day that grain has to travel hundreds of miles to be processed when it could be local grown and local consumed

[@IELife-de2oc]

​@@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695Exactly. So many commenters seem to ignore this aspect.

[@StarTrekFan4Life]

❤❤❤🎉

[@jackflash9735]

Proof the Infrastructure bill is working more conservation minded policies!!

[@drones7838]

Great - less water reserves

[@wobbuffetbuffet]

More water reserves in the natural water tables. Less private boating lakes for the rich. Leave nature alone, let rivers flow.

[@ElectricNed]

Excellent!

[@JohnMacFergus-oz5cp]

And thank you, American Rivers folks!

[@black_sheep2520]

It takes more effort to redirect the natural flow of rivers than to adapt to them. We can build reservoirs for flood control and watermills for hydropower.