Literature Review on Dam Removal: A U-Turn Towards the Sustainable Management

Document Type : review paper

Authors

• Babak Khaiatrostami ¹
• akbar safarzadeh ²
• Siamak Khaiatrostami ²

¹ Islamic Azad University

² University of Mohaghegh Ardabili

10.22067/jwsd.v3i2.53707

Abstract

Modern dam construction developed rapidly after the industrial revolution and the manufacturing of the heavy construction machinery,. The benefits of this industry, such as flood control, agricultural and tourism developments, hydropower generation and drinking water supply, shaded its negative impacts. Dam removal in the developed countries, which have passed the rapid dam construction period, is an outcome of the sustainable development approach. Nowadays negative impacts of rapid dam construction projects are taking place gradually in our country. For the first time in Iran, this paper reviews the history, reasons and literature on dam removal and investigates its relation with the water management paradigms. After introducing the key indicators and decision-making models, the dam removal process has been explained and recent dam removal trends in the United States is presented. Finally, one of the applicability cases in Iran has been investigated in a brief comparative study.

Keywords

• Dam removal
• Ecosystem
• Adaptive management
• Decision making

---

References

اسحاقی، آ.، منظریها، م. و مجدزاده طباطبایی، م. ۱۳۹۲. معرفی پارامترها و روش‏ های احیای رودخانه مطالعه موردی: رودخانه کن. هفتمین کنگره ملی مهندسی عمران، زاهدان، دانشگاه سیستان و بلوچستان.

البرزی منش، م. 1389. سدسازی در کشور آری یا خیر. فصلنامه مهندس مشاور، 48: 58-48.

امینی، م. و مریدی، ع. 1393. ارزیابی راهکارهای مدیریت سازه‏ای و غیر سازه‏ای برای جلوگیری از خشک‏ شدن دریاچه ارومیه. کنفرانس بین‏ المللی توسعه پایدار، راهکارها و چالش ها با محوریت کشاورزی، منابع طبیعی، محیط ‏زیست و گردشگری، تبریز.

بی‏نا. 1388. تجارب جهانی طرح ‏های انتقال میان حوضه ‏ای آب و ضرورت تدوین معیارهای تصمیم‏ گیری. نشریه پیام آب (ویژه‏نامه هفته پژوهش)، شرکت مدیریت منابع آب ایران، 72-76

چرب‏گو، ت. و چرب‏گو، ا. 1389. پیامدهای منفی سدسازی درحوضه آبریز دریاچه ارومیه و تأثیر آن در خشک‏شدن دریاچه ارومیه. پنجمین همایش ملی زمین‏ شناسی و محیط ‏زیست، اسلامشهر، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد اسلامشهر.

خیاط رستمی، ب.، انوار، ع. و حسن‏ زاده، ی. 1392. بررسی تأثیر ساماندهی رودخانه بر توسعه پایدار شهری. کنفرانس بین ‏المللی عمران، معماری و توسعه پایدار شهری، تبریز، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد تبریز.

جوادزاده، س. و عاشری، ا. 1392. حقآبه محیط‏زیست دریاچه اورمیه با نگرش به سدسازی‏ ها روی رودهای تغذیه‏ کننده دریاچه و خشک‏ شدن آن. اولین همایش حفاظت از تالاب ها و اکوسیستم‏ های آبی ایران، همدان.

شریفی، ج. و محسن‌نژاد، ف. 1392. نجات دریاچه ارومیه از دیدگاه زمین‌شناسی، با برنامه‌ریزی آبیاری. اولین همایش ملی تأثیر پسروی دریاچه ارومیه بر منابع خاک و آب، تبریز، مرکز تحقیقات کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی استان آذربایجان شرقی، سازمان جهاد کشاورزی استان آذربایجان شرقی.

کمیته اجتماعی- فرهنگی ستاد احیای دریاچه ارومیه. 1394. طرح احیای دریاچه ارومیه، چالش ‏ها و راهکارها. ویژه فرمانداران و بخشداران (بسته چهارم).

American Rivers, Friends of the Earth, Trout Unlimited. 1999. Dam Removal Success Stories: Restoring Rivers through Selective Removal of Dams That Don't Make Sense. Washington (DC).

Aspen Institute. 2002. Dam removal: a new option for a new century. Aspen Institute Queenstown, MD., USA.

Andre E. 2012. Beyond hydrology in the sustainability assessment of dams: A planners perspective – The Sarawak experience. Journal of Hydrology, 412–413: 246–255.

Bertalanffy K.L.V. 1976. General System theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. New York: George Braziller.

Baxi U. 2001. What happens next is up to you: human rights at risk in dams and development. American University International Law Review, 16: 1507-1529.

Brenkman S.J., DUDA J.J., Torgersen C.E., Welty E., Pess G.R., Peters R. and McHenry M.L.A. 2012. riverscape perspective of Pacific salmonids and aquatic habitats prior to large-scale dam removal in the Elwha River. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 19: 36–53.

Bijker W.E. 2006. Dikes and Dams. Thick with Politics. Isis, 98(1): 109-123.

Bromley C., Randle T., Grant G. and Thorne C. 2011. Physical Modeling of the Removal of Glines Canyon Dam and Lake Mills from the Elwha River, Washington. Sediment Dynamics upon Dam Removal, p. 97-114.

Changqing Q. 2010. Research on Priority Decision-Making Method of Dam Removal, ICIII, International Conference on Information Management. Innovation Management and Industrial Engr, 472-476.

Cortner H.J. and Moote M.A. 1994. Trends and Issues in Land and Water Resources Management: Setting the Agenda for Change. Environmental Management, 18: 167-173.

Doyle M.W., Stanley E.H., Luebke M.A. and Harbor J.M. 2000. Dam removal: Physical, biological, and societal considerations. In R. H. Hotchkiss and N. Glade (eds.), Proceedings of the 2000 Joint Conference on Water Resources Engineering and Water Resources Planning and Management, CD-ROM. ASCE, New York.

Doyle M.W. and Harbor J.M. 2003. Toward Policies and Decision-Making for Dam Removal. Environmental Management, 31: 453–465.

East A.E., Pess G.R., Bountry J.A., Magirl C.S., Ritchie A.C., Logan J.B., Randle T.J., Mastin M.C., Minear J.T., Duda J.J., Liermann M.C., McHenry M.L., Beechie T.J. and Shafroth P.B. 2015. Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: River channel and floodplain geomorphic change. Geomorphology, 246(1): 687-708.

Foley M.M., Duda J.J., Beirne M.M., Paradis R., Ritchie A. and Warrick J.A. 2015. Rapid water quality change in the Elwha River estuary complex during dam removal. Limnology and Oceanography, 60(5): 1719-1732.

Graf W.L. 1999. Dam nation: A geographic census of American dams and their large-scale hydrologic impacts. Water Resources Research, 35: 1305–1311.

Gelfenbauma G., Stevensa A.W., Millerb I., Warricka J.A., Ogstonc A.S. and Eidamc E. 2015. Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: Coastal geomorphic change. Geomorphology, 246: 649–668.

Gleick P.H. 2000. The Changing Water Paradigm: A Look at Twenty-first Century Water Resources Development. Water International, 25: 127-138.

Haeuber R.A. and Michener W.K. 1998. Policy implications of recent natural and managed floods. BioScience, 48: 765–772.

Harbor J.M. 1993. Proposed measures to alleviate the environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams on the Elwha River, Washington, USA. In Y. Eckstein and A. Zaporozec (eds.), Industrial and agricultural impacts on the hydrologic environment: proceedings of the second USA/CIS joint conference on environmental hydrology and hydrogeology. American Institute of Hydrology, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Hart D.D., Johnson T.E., Bushaw-Newton K.L., Horwitz R.J., Bednarek A.T., Charles D.F., Kreeger D.A. and Velinsky D.j. 2002. Dam Removal: Challenges and Opportunities for Ecological Research and River Restoration. BioScience, 52: 669-682.

HEINZ Center. 2002. DAM REMOVAL Science and Decision Making, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, Washington, D.C.

Hoenke K.M., Kumar M., Batt L. 2014. A GIS based approach for prioritizing dams for potential removal. Ecological Engineering, 64: 27–36.

Jørgensen D. and Renöfält B.M. 2012. Damned if you do, dammed if you don’t: debates on dam removal in the Swedish media. Ecology and Society, 18(1): 18.

Kareiva P., Marvier M. and McClure M. 2000. Recovery and management options for spring/summer Chinook Salmon in the Columbia River Basin. Science, 290: 977–979.

Kornijow R. 2009. Controversies around dam reservoirs: benefits, costs and future, Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, 9(2): 141–148.

Klumpp C. 2011. Bureau of Reclamation Case Studies of Dam Removal. Sediment Dynamics upon Dam Removal, P. 57-65.

Lima I.B.T., Ramos F.M., Bambace L.A.W. and Rosa R.R. 2008. Methane emissions from large dams renewable energy sources: a developing nation perspective. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 13: 193-206.

Ludwig D., Hilborn R. and Walters C. 1993. Uncertainty, resource exploitation, and conservation: lessons learned from history. Science, 260: 17-36.

Magirla C.S., Hilldaleb R.C., Curranc C.A., Dudad J.J., Straube T.D., Domanskie M. and Foremanc J.R. 2015. Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: Fluvial sediment load, Geomorphology, 246(1): 669–686.

Nilsson C., Reidy C.A., Dynesius M. and Revenga C. 2005. Fragmentation and flow regulation of the world’s large river systems. Science, 308: 405-408.

Null S.E., Medellin-Azuara J., Escriva-Bou A., Lent M. and Lund J.R. 2014. Optimizing the dammed: Water supply losses and fish habitat gains from dam removal in California, Journal of Environmental Management, 136: 121-131.

Orr C.H., Roth B.M., Forshay K.J., Gonzales J.D., Papenfus M.M. and Wassell R.D.G. 2004. Examination of Physical and Regulatory Variables Leading to Small Dam Removal in Wisconsin, Environmental Management, 33(1): 99-109.

Otto B. and Bowman M. 2000. Paying for Dam Removal: A Guide to Selected Funding Sources, American Rivers.

Pohl M.M. 2002. Bring Down Our Dams: Trends in American Dam Removal Rationales, JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 38(6): 1511-1519.

Randle T. and Bountry J. 2011. Guidelines for Numerical Modeling of Dam Removals. Sediment Dynamics upon Dam Removal, P. 141-155.

Revenga C., Brunner J., Henninger N., Kassem K. and Payne R. 2000. Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems: Freshwater Systems. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA.

Shannon M.A. 1998. Social organizations and Institutions In R. J. Naiman, and R. E. Bilby (eds.), River ecology and management: lessons from the Pacific coastal ecoregion, Springer-Verlag, New York, (p. 705).

Singler A. 2014. Mapping Dam Removal Success: Lessons from United States Dam Removals, University of Massachusetts, P.7.

Stoker B. and Harbor J.M. 1991. Dam removal methods, Elwha River, Washington. In R. M. Shane, (ed.), Hydraulic engineering, proceedings of the national conference on hydraulic engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, NY, 668–673.

UNEP DDP. 2007. Dams and Development. Relevant practices for improved decision-making. A compendium of relevant practices for improved decision-making on dams and their alternatives. UNEP Dams and Development Project.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). 2004. Panel on Adaptive Management for Resource Stewardship, Committee to Assess the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Methods of Analysis and Peer Review for Water Resources Project Planning, National Research Council. Adaptive Management for Water Resources Project Planning.

Ward R.C. 1995. Special Issue on Integrated Watershed Management – A New Paradigm for Water Management, Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, (p. 100).

World Commission on Dams (WCD). 2000. Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London and Sterling, VA.

WWF. 2005. To dam or not to dam? Five years on from the World Commission on Dams. WWF. Global Freshwater Programme.

Zheng P.Q. and Hobbs B.F. 2013. Multiobjective Portfolio Analysis of Dam Removals Addressing Dam Safety, Fish Populations, and Cost, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, ASCE, 139(1): 65-75.