Documentary One Dam at a Time Showcases Riverkeeper's Dam Elimination Challenge

Alongside the sting of Newburgh’s Quassaick Creek, George Jackman, Riverkeeper’s director of Habitat Restoration, watches intently as a Kobelco excavator meticulously drills into the Strooks Felt Dam. As he observes the excavator releasing a cascade of flowing water, Jackman’s pensive expression transforms into considered one of satisfaction, totally conscious that these efforts will improve the habitats of close by fish species.

This triumphant second, together with different scenes of environmental activism, can quickly be seen in One Dam at a Time, a 22-minute documentary by author, filmmaker, and Nationwide Geographic “Ocean Hero” Jon Bowermaster. The documentary showcases the dam elimination efforts of Riverkeeper, a nonprofit environmental group devoted to the safety of the Hudson and its tributaries. Two upcoming screenings of the movie, one digital and one in particular person, will happen subsequent week.

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Jess Deitz

Quassaick Creek after the elimination of Strooks Felt Dam

There are no less than 1,600 unused dams that fragment the rivers and streams of the Hudson Valley, threatening river ecosystems. These dams, sometimes round a century previous, was once the power supply for paper, woolen, and grist mills, in addition to candle and iron factories, however have since fallen right into a state of abandonment. Bowermaster emphasizes that regardless of their age, these dams lack historic significance and ought to be eliminated. “Typically when folks see these dams on folks’s property, they nearly contemplate it an actual property bonus,” says Bowermaster. “Folks want to appreciate that this stuff are antiquated, not historic, and must be taken out.”

Riverkeeper started their dam elimination efforts in 2016, after they collaborated with the Metropolis of Troy and the state Division of Environmental Conservation to assist take away a dam within the Wynants Kill. This dam elimination succeeded in restoring greater than 1 / 4 mile of spawning habitat for river herring—an necessary species whose populations have considerably declined attributable to overharvest and the lack of spawning habitat. In 2020, Riverkeeper continued to revive streams by eradicating the Strooks Felt Dam on Quassaick Creek in Newburgh in addition to one other dam on Furnace Brook in Westchester County. Quickly, Riverkeeper will work on eradicating the Maiden Lane Dam, additionally on Furnace Brook.

One Dam at a Time chronicles these efforts, which characterize solely the start of a a lot bigger course of. Whereas many of those dams are small and hidden from view, they nonetheless pose a critical menace to river ecosystems. “To a fish, it does not matter if a dam is 6 ft tall or 100 ft tall,” says Bowermaster. “They can not move by means of it both manner.”

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Riverkeeper

Furnace Brook earlier than dam elimination

Unused dams pose quite a lot of dangers to the wildlife restricted by them. For example, any species caught between two dams has restricted gene circulate and may develop into inclined to inbreeding. Moreover, there could be contaminated sediments impounded behind these dams, which pose dangers to each animal and human well being.

Antiquated dams additionally pose a hazard to any individuals who might come into direct contact with them. When water flows over low head dams—smaller dams spanning the complete width of a river—it varieties a hydraulic recirculation of the water under the dam. As this recirculating present pulls an object in, super-oxygenated water considerably reduces the item’s buoyancy, making it very tough to remain afloat.

Jackman compares the expertise of being battered in opposition to a dam to being trapped in a washer. “There are some dams which have killed many individuals,” says Jackman. “For those who fall in a river the place there’s a hydraulic recirculation under a dam, you’re in deep trouble.”

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Riverkeeper

Furnace Brook after dam elimination

The obstacles behind eradicating a dam are bureaucratic; the bodily elimination of a dam takes lower than a day, however the preparation can take months. On prime of a mess of permits, Riverkeeper wants to achieve proprietor approval to take away a dam, acquire stakeholder help from those that dwell close by, and persuade regulators that the mission can transfer ahead inside the tips set by the state and federal authorities, the Military Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Safety Company.

All of the pink tape holds again an necessary want, leaving these dams standing as public risks. “All dams are momentary, and in the event that they’re not eliminated in a managed vogue, they may very well be eliminated in a catastrophic act of nature,” says Jackman. “If we stroll away, then nature will take away that dam, with out a allow.”

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Riverkeeper

Jackman with Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator Katie Leung

Though gaining proprietor curiosity was once a significant issue up to now, it’s much less so now, and Riverkeeper has an entire checklist of dams with permission to take away. Now, the principle barrier is funding. In the end, these dams are eliminated as a result of it’s dearer to restore and preserve a dam than to easily do away with it. “All that is foisted upon the taxpayer, as a result of sure company entities made income and simply deserted these buildings,” says Jackman. “It’s all the time us guys that gotta pay for this.”

Now, Riverkeeper wants consciousness and the funding that follows. By One Dam at a Time, Bowermaster hopes to encourage motion to help the elimination of unused dams. “I’m an enormous believer that media makes a distinction, and particularly that movies make a distinction,” says Bowermaster. “Folks react otherwise to movie.”

Regardless of any struggles, these at Riverkeeper think about their mission and concentrate on the seen results of their work. The Wynants Kill dam elimination allowed herring to return for the primary time in 85 years, and when Jackman returned to Quassaick Creek to plant native timber with a group of volunteers, he was capable of cradle a newly hatched snapping turtle—which he considers a logo of restored biodiversity to the area.

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Leah Rae

Jackman with snapping turtle at Quassaick Creek

One Dam at a Time’s world premiere digital screening will happen on September 26 at 6pm. This screening will embrace a dialogue and Q&A with Bowermaster, Jackman, Riverkeeper President Tracy Brown, and Riverkeeper Patrol Boat Captain and Vice President for Advocacy John Lipscomb.

An in-person screening & brews occasion will happen on the Industrial Arts Brewing Firm in Beacon on September 28 at 7pm. It will likely be adopted by a quick dialogue with Brown and Jackman, and attendees obtain a complimentary beer with a $10 donation to Riverkeeper.