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Fish Passage Program Solves Dam Problems
September 10, 2008
Contact: Joshua Winchell joshua_winchell@fws.gov
This year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program provided nearly $8.3 million to remove or bypass more than 168 barriers to fish passage. Along with nearly $18 million in partnership funds, the Fish Passage Program will help reopen 1,716 miles of streams and rivers and 9,471 acres to improve habitats for recreational fish and imperiled aquatic species.
The widespread issue of fish passage is the
result of the construction of millions of culverts, dikes,
water diversions, dams and other artificial barriers that
impound and redirect water for irrigation, flood control,
electricity, drinking water, and transportation -- all
changing natural features of rivers and streams. As the
Service's understanding of the response of fisheries to
these barriers has grown, efforts have begun to reverse the
negative impacts they've had on our fish and environment.
The Fish Passage Program uses a voluntary, non-regulatory
approach to work with municipal, state, tribal and federal
agencies, as well as non-governmental agencies to reopen and
improve aquatic habitats in the nation's streams and rivers.
The program provides funding and technical expertise to
partners to remove or bypass dams and other obstructions and
replace or improve culverts under roads or railroad tracks
-- all to allow fish to swim through. The goal of the
program is to restore native fish and other aquatic species
to self-sustaining levels by reconnecting habitat that has
been fragmented by barriers.
One exemplary project supported by the
Program is the removal of the
Balmoral Dam on Mill
Creek, a major tributary to the Wisconsin River, Wisconsin.
The removal of the dam will restore stream flows and allow
access to more than 92 miles of habitat for brook trout,
smallmouth bass, walleye, western sand darter and other
native fish and mussel species. The removal will also
improve the quality of the cold-water trout fishery in the
upstream reach, the warm-water fishery in the lower section,
as well as improve water quality throughout the stream.
Other funded projects include:
John Day River
Basin, Oregon - $66,231 in Service funding
and $440,000 in partner funds to restore passage at six
diversions, allowing access to an additional 40.8 miles of
stream habitat for the listed bull trout and Mid-Columbia
River steelhead salmon, as well as spring Chinook salmon,
redband trout and other native fish species.
Homestead
Woolen Mill Dam, Ashuelot River, Swanzey, New Hampshire
- $83,623 in Service funding to remove the dam and restore
access to five miles of stream habitat for Atlantic salmon,
American shad and blueback herring.
Loosahatchee
Bar, Tennessee - $100,000 in Service funding
and $65,000 in partner funding to remove one dam and restore
access to four miles of stream habitat for pallid and
shovelnose sturgeon and other fish species.
Two Moose
Creek, Alaska - $42,857 in Service funding
to restore access to nine miles of stream habitat for
steelhead, Coho and sockeye salmon.
Oak Run Creek, Shasta County, California - $33,450 in Service funding and $20,000 in partner funds to remove to barriers and restore access to six miles of stream habitat for resident wild trout and other fish species.
Since its inception in 1999, the National
Fish Passage Program has removed or bypassed 655, restoring
access to almost 10,612 miles of river and 51,361 acres of
wetlands.
The Program has also been able to leverage an
average of three dollars for every project dollar spent
through its partners.
Click here for a complete list of funded 2008
projects:
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/fwma/FishPassage/pdfs/NFPP08projects.pdf
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/fwma/FishPassage/pdfs/NFPP08projects.pdf
For more information about the Fish Passage
Program, visit our home page at:
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/fwma/fishpassage
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/fwma/fishpassage
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml