Challenges to natural process restoration: common dam removal management concerns

Abstract:

Practitioners must make dam removal decisions in spite of uncertainty about physical and ecological responses. This can result in implementing structural controls or other interventions at a site to avoid anticipated negative effects, sometimes even if a given concern is not warranted. We used a newly available dam removal science database and other information sources to explore seven frequently raised issues we call “Common Management Concerns” (CMCs), investigating their occurrence and the contributing biophysical controls. We describe these controls to enable managers to better assess if further analyses are warranted at their sites before interventions are planned and implemented. The CMCs addressed are: rate and degree of reservoir sediment erosion; drawdown impacts on local water infrastructure; excessive channel incision; downstream sediment aggradation; elevated turbidity; colonization of reservoir sediments by non-native plants; and expansion of invasive fish. The relative dearth of case studies available for many CMCs limited the generalizable conclusions we could draw about prevalence, but the available data and established understanding of relevant processes revealed important biophysical phenomena controlling the likelihood of CMC occurrence. To assess CMC risk, we recommend managers concurrently evaluate if site conditions suggest the ecosystem, infrastructure, or other human uses will be negatively affected if the biophysical phenomenon producing the CMC occurs. We show how many CMCs have one or more controls in common, facilitating the identification of multiple risks at a site, and demonstrate why CMC risks should be considered in the context of other important factors like watershed disturbance history, natural variability, and dam removal tradeoffs. Better understanding CMCs and how to evaluate them will enable practitioners to avoid unnecessary interventions and thus maximize opportunities for working with natural processes to restore river function.