DOI: 10.2478/v10104-010-0001-4 Vol. 9 No 2-4, 141-148 2009

Controversies around dam reservoirs: benefits, costs and future

Ryszard Kornijów1, 2 of Life Sciences in Lublin, Department of Hydrobiology, B. Dobrzańskiego 37, 20-262 Lublin, Poland, e-mail: ryszard.kornijow@up.lublin.pl 2Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia, Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology, H. Kołłątaja 1, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland
1University

Abstract The paper reviews the social and environmental problems concerning the functioning of dams including their local and global effects. Particularly emphasized is a trend toward removing dams in many countries. These are issues of significant importance, particularly in view of the current discussions on justification of investing in new dams, and seeking safe and economical solutions for aging dams, risky in their further operation. Key words: dam building and removal, local and global effects. „Dams are both a blessing and a curse” Dr. Ute Collier

1. Introduction
The above citation accurately, although briefly, reflects general perception of dams. On the one hand, they have undoubtedly played, and still play a significant role in the development of the civilization. On the other hand, their construction and functioning entail incurring immense social costs, often disproportionate to the resulting advantages. Dams have also caused vast irreversible damage in the natural environment. Therefore, there is growing opposition against constructing dams, and even demands to remove the already existing ones. This, in turn, leads to the mobilization of the hydrotechnicians’ circle, seeking possibilities for initiating new investments, which results in a larger and larger gap between the proponents and opponents of hydrotechnical structures on rivers.

The objective of this paper is to discuss the social and environmental aspects of the functioning of dams including their local and global effects. A trend toward removing dams in some countries is particularly emphasized. These are issues of significant importance, particularly in view of the current discussions concerning justification of investing in new dams, and seeking safe and economical solutions for aging dams, risky in their further operation.

2. History and current situation
The first dam reservoirs were constructed already in ancient Egypt, approximately 4000 years BC. Significant increase in the dynamics of the number of dams built occurred beginning from

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the XVI century. The largest number of dams were built in the previous century. Only in the years 1950-1986, the number of commissioned new objects increased seven times (Vörösmarty et al. 1997). Approximately 800 000 dams are currently in operation worldwide. 50 000 are considered as large, with a height of more than 15 m (About dams – International Rivers). The largest number of dams are located in China (22 000), the USA (6575), India (4291), Japan (2675), and Spain (1196). Russia has the largest total surface area of dam reservoirs (7.96 mln ha), followed by the USA (6.98 mln ha), Canada (6.5 mln ha), China (5.8 mln ha), India (4.57 mln ha), and Brazil (3.98 mln ha) (Graham-Rowe 2005). Half of the dams were constructed to collect water for drinking purposes, for irrigation, and production of electricity. It is estimated that water collected in dam reservoirs irrigates 30-40% of arable land (WCD 2000), and hydro-power stations situated on dams provide approximately 19% of electricity produced in the world (DDP 2007). Many dams have been constructed to prevent floods. Others have multiple purposes. The number of dams constructed in North America and Europe has been decreasing for the last 40 years. The major reason for this is the shortage of appropriate, technically attractive places, as most of them has already been developed. These continents also experience gradual decrease of the number of dams in operation due to their successive removal, which shall be discussed further in the article. Extremely large numbers of dams are still being constructed in developing and economically developed countries, where the problem of water deficit is particularly acute. According to the data of WWF (2004, 2005), the largest number of dams with a height of more than 60 m are built in the drainage areas of the following rivers: Yangtze in China (46), La Plata in South America (27), and Tigris and Euphrates in Turkey, Syria and Iraq (26).

1950-1990, over 10 million people were evicted (WWF 2004). In Poland, the widely known example of such a displacement is the case of the village Maniowy, flooded by the newly formed Czorsztyn Reservoir. Over 300 households were drowned together with shops, a fire station, a bakery, a diary, a community centre, a school, a cemetery, a historical church and mansion, places with which the inhabitants of the village had been connected for generations (Wojtaszek 2002). Sometimes, evictions from vast areas around a reservoir after its creation are performed for the purpose of minimizing anthropogenic influences on the water quality (DCR 2007). In many regions of the world, additional social costs are incurred in connection with a forced change of traditional manner of use of a river or flooded land. Arable land, as well as river, forest, and swamp ecosystems, often of high environmental-landscape values, are lost irretrievably. Also architectural and historical relics disappear under water.

Dams and the environment
The Report of the World Commission on Dams (WCD 2000) specifies that negative influences of water dams on the environment exceed the positive results. In many cases, dams have led to a significant and irreversible loss of species and ecosystems, and efforts to mitigate these impacts have often been unsuccessful. Local influences of dam reservoirs on land and wetland ecosystems dependable on rivers, as well as their influence on the microclimate have been described in a number of papers (e.g. McCully 1996; Rashad, Ismail 2000; Jankowski 2000; Adel 2001; Bednarek 2001; Brink et al. 2004; WWF 2004; Wawręty, Żelaziński 2006; McCartney 2009; Lejon et al. 2009), as well as on many web sites (e.g. http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1545). Negative changes related to the functioning of dams concern, among others, discontinuation of rivers. It is estimated that as a result of construction of dams, 59% of the largest 227 rivers of the world have been fragmented (Nilsson et al. 2005). This leads to tremendous changes in the natural environment, and deep interference, at a scale not experienced so far, into the functioning of ecosystems, and into the life of communities dependable on rivers in various terms. Changes in rivers themselves concern: the water regime, water temperature and its oxygenation, matter transport. As a consequence, alterations occur in the species composition and density of various populations of plants and animals in the rivers themselves, as well as in lakes and seas to which they are tributaries. It is a common knowledge that dams have restrictive influence on fish migrations (McCartney 2009).

Social costs related to the construction and functioning of dams
The financial costs of constructing dams are usually extremely high, and in certain countries such as Laos and Mozambique they sometimes exceed the country’s annual income, which results in taking credits abroad to be paid off in the form of electricity (WWF 2004). When constructing dams, also significant social costs are incurred. This is reflected in the scale of evictions from areas destined for flooding, reaching numbers as high as 40-80 million people worldwide, and the fact that most of these people have never regained their former livelihoods (WCD 2000). In China itself, in the years

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In many cases, in particular in hot climate areas, the construction of dam reservoirs and irrigation channels resulted in spreading of various parasites and epidemics, as well as in strong salinity of land making its further arable use impossible (Abu Zeid 1989; Rashad, Ismail 2000; Adel 2001; Hartnady 2003). Two aspects of the influence of dams on the environment at a local scale are less known, and I would like to pay somewhat more attention to them. One of them concerns so called “reservoirinduced seismicity”, i.e. causing seismic activity in lands flooded by great dam reservoirs. Both during filling of the reservoirs, and after flooding of the land, immense stress and moving of tectonic plates occur resulting from the weight of the collected water. This leads to a series of earthquakes (Talwani, Acree. 1984; Chen, Talwani 1998; Hartnady 2003). The first earthquakes attributed to dams were observed in Algeria in the vicinity of the Quedd Fodda Dam in 1932. Currently, the relation between earthquakes and functioning of approximately 70 dams, usually with a height of above 100 m, are well evidenced, although it is believed that dams with a height of twice less can also cause seismic activity (McCully 1996). Dams can be a reason for earthquakes in both seismically active areas, and in those recognised as inactive. It is dangerous, because in aseismic areas, no techniques securing the constructions against earthquakes are applied. The quakes are usually minor in strength, but they may have serious consequences. The case of the fourth largest dam in Europe, with a height of 261 m, the Vaiont Dam in Italian Alps, had the most tragic results. Already during filling the reservoir, and then during 3-year operation, more and more frequent minor seismic quakes occurred. In 1963, they caused a landslide of 200 million tons of earth and rocks from the slopes of a nearby mountain, which resulted in flowing of the water over the dam. A 70 m deep river was formed, flowing with a speed of over 90 km/h. It destroyed a village located below, killing over 2 500 inhabitants (Kozłowski 2007). The second aspect of local effects of dams, which I would like to mention, is related to the poor quality of water very often occurring in dam reservoirs. In Poland, this problem concerns almost all lowland reservoirs, fed by rivers with arable drainage areas or lack of proper wastewater management. Widely known for their low water quality are the following reservoirs: Siemanówka, Sulejowski, Goczałkowicki, Zemborzycki, or Turawa, in which massive algae and toxic cyanobacteria blooms are observed, reflecting excessive eutrophication (e.g. Pawlik-Skowrońska et al. 2004). Contact with such water can lead to serious skin, liver, and nervous system illnesses, or even to death of people and animals (Chorus et al. 2000; Sinclair et al. 2008). In such a situation, the

reservoirs do not meet their purposes (recreation, drinking water reserves, angling and fishery). Maintaining high water quality is possible under the condition of forestation of large proportions of drainage areas, conducting restrictive policies in the scope of environmental protection, and performing educational activities among local communities. An example is the tenth largest reservoir in the world – Quabbin in the state of Massachusetts, boasting ultra-oligotrophic water, and supplying, among others, the city of Boston (Bishop et al. 2003). The third aspect of influence of dams on the environment, rarely considered, concerns changes of mutual hydrodynamic regime between aquifer horizons (Rashad, Ismail 2000). Such changes can result in even a few meter drop of the ground water level, and disappearance of water in wells (Adel 2001).

The influence of dams on environmental changes at a global scale
Although local consequences of the influence of dam reservoirs on the environment are generally well known, such influence at a global scale remains less familiar (Rosenberg et al. 2000). It concerns among others water circulation on the Earth, disturbing the balance of the water cycle. On the one hand, water circulation is disturbed as a result of retaining water in reservoirs, in which, for example in North America, as much as 31% of the annual continental runoff can be temporarily accumulated. In consequence, the mean age of continental runoff has doubled or even tripled to well over 1 month worldwide (Vörösmarty et al. 1997; Vörösmarty, Sahagian 2000). This results in the so-called “reservoir-induced aging water” – decreased flow below the dams, and decreased freshwater flow into seas and oceans. In certain extreme cases, rivers flowing into dam reservoirs, such as e.g. Colorado, Nile, and Yellow River, due to excessive development and overexploitation, periodically do not discharge fresh water into the sea. On the other hand, the vast open surface areas of dam reservoirs, exposed to solar radiation, cause fast water evaporation. It poses a serious problem, particularly in tropical areas, due to high temperatures and frequent covering of the water surface with a thick carpet of water plants (usually invasive), which accelerates the escape of water into the atmosphere by means of evapotranspiration. It is estimated that annually, dam reservoirs lose approximately 170 km3 of water. The figure is equivalent to approximately 7% of water used annually on the whole planet for any purposes, including industrial ones (Vörösmarty et al. 1997). A number of authors draw attention to the influence of dams on the matter circulation and biogeochemical cycles (among others Humborg et al.

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1997, 2000; Rashad, Ismail 2000). Matter transported by river waters is deposited in reservoirs at a rate depending on, among others: matter granulation, period of water retention in the reservoir, and the volume of water collected. Vörösmarty and Sahagian (2000) anticipated that the impact of reservoir systems increases the actual global sediment retention to more than 25% of the global flux transported by all rivers. The total amount of bottom sediments deposited in dam reservoirs currently exceeds a billion tones, and grows rapidly (Syvitski et al. 2005). It leads to significant changes in matter circulation and transport, and in consequence, also to serious alterations in the structure of biocenoeses, including drastic decrease of production of fish in certain areas of seas and oceans (Abu Zeid 1989; Adel 2001). It also turns out that dam reservoirs significantly contribute, at the estimated level of over 4% to the global total warming impact of human activities (Lima et al. 2007, 2008). The phenomenon is a result of emitting methane by reservoirs, an important greenhouse gas produced in the course of anaerobic organic matter transformation processes in bottom sediments. Initially, it was believed that increased emission on methane concerns mainly hot climate countries, and only during a few first years after the construction of a dam (Rashad, Ismail 2000; WCD 2000; Rosa et al. 2004; Fearnside 2005; Giles 2006). The latest research proves, however, that also reservoirs in the moderate climate zone can be significant emitters of methane throughout the whole period of their operation (Del Sontro et al. 2008). Multiplication of accumulated global influences of dams can be expected after the commissioning of the huge facilities on the world’s largest rivers, currently being constructed, among others in China, India, and Turkey (McCartney 2009).

Dams as undesired constructions
The negative influence of dams on the environment and quality of life of many local communities resulted in the negative perception of dams, and in certain countries it has also become the reason for dam removal. Other reasons for removing dams are silting of the reservoirs and deterioration of the technical condition of dams. In Europe alone, 10 000 dams should be inspected, and removal turns out to be twice or three times cheaper than repair (Aspen Institute 2002). It is also often claimed that economic production of the so-called “white energy” is unjustified in the context of the incurred environmental losses. In a number of cases, removing dams becomes one of the elements of rivers’ renaturalisation (Błędzki 2003; Prus 2003; Stanley, Doyle 2003). The United States is the country leading in dam removal. During the last 76 years, 798 dams

were removed there, including 358 dams after 1999. The dynamics of this process is clearly intensifying. Only in 2009, 58 dams were removed or destined for removal. More than 300 dams were also removed in Canada and Europe (among others in Spain, France, and the Czech Republic). In Spain, in accordance with the document entitled “Estrategia Nacional de Restauración de Ríos”, the removal of another approximately 100 dams is planned shortly. Until the present time, small dams with a height from a few to about a dozen meters were removed. However, great dams with a height of dozens of meters, among others in the USA and Spain, are already being prepared for removal (Brufao 2008; Winter, Crain 2008). It is worth noticing, that removal is often justified by the need to reduce the risk of the occurrence of flood (Brufao 2008). Tragic effects of floods resulting from raised waters of e.g. extensively regulated Missisipi River, rich in dam reservoirs, proved the trifling significance of dams in these terms. There, as well as in other countries, where attempts to “subdue” flooding rivers failed, effective ways to avoid floods are currently not sought in constructing new dams and regulating rivers, but in other solutions. These are e.g.: decreasing the runoff (among others by increasing soil infiltration), widening floodplain terrace, and locating buildings in a larger distance from riverbeds. More detailed discussion concerning the anti-flood significance of dams, and non-technical methods of avoiding floods, exceed the scope of this article. I recommend relevant studies (Brink et al. 2004; Żelaziński 2000; Wawręty, Żelaziński 2006) to interested readers. A number of various papers have been devoted to the removal of dams, from articles in scientific periodicals, to books and reports (e.g. Lane 2006). Manuals discussing issues concerning the removal of dams have been published, including legal, technical, and financial ones, together with specifications of potential sources of financing of performed undertakings (e.g. Dam removal in Massachusetts 2007; Aspen Institute 2002; The compendium of relevant practices for improved decision-making on dams and their alternatives, http://www.ussdams.org/c_decom.html). A list of rich bibliography concerning dam removal can be found among others on the home site of the Western Washington University library under the title “Selected Library Resources on Dam Removal” (http://www.library.wwu.edu/ref/ subjects/es/dam.htm), as well as on the website of the American Rivers Organisation (http://www. americanrivers.org/our-work/search.jsp?query=TH E+ECOLOGY+OF+DAM+REMOVAL&Search. x=0&Search.y=0&Search=Search). The issue of dam removal has been the subject of a number of conferences, e.g. Dam Decom-

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missioning Workshop, held in Traverse City in the State of Michigan on 24-25 April 2006. The programme of the conference and information presented there can be found on the following website: http://theboardman.org/meetingarchive/ details/C57/35/. The database concerning dam removal in the USA is on the Clearinghouse for Dam Removal Information website: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ WRCA/CDRI/index.html Dam removal became such a significant issue that even on the You Tube website, coverage documenting such undertakings are published (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg64mfkDbuM, http://www.rivernet.org/general/dams/decommis sioning/decom3_e.htm#context Dam removal is supported by international organisations such as UNEP (DDP 2007), and WWF (WWF 2005). The necessity to consider the costs of the future removal of aging dams was emphasized by The World Commission on Dams (WCD 2000).

Effects of dam removal
In the past, dam removal was often spontaneous and not preceded by relevant research before and after the operation (Grant 2001). The last few years, however, witnessed an intensification of research concerning this issue (e.g.: Pizzuto, 2002; Hart et al. 2002; Shafroth et al. 2002; Conyngham et al. 2006; Steward, Grant 2007), including the analysis of social conditions (Lejon et al. 2009). Dam removal resulted in recovering the migration routes of fish, and within a relatively short time, usually significant, even double increase in the number of ichtiofauna species. Moreover, an improvement in the clarity of water and its oxygenation was observed, along with the restoration of the previous thermal regime, and natural sediment transport processes. In certain cases, however, periodical disturbance of the functioning of the river below the dam reservoirs removed occurred, for example an increase in the amount of suspensions carried by water (Bednarek 2001; Whitelaw, MacMullan 2002; Maclin et al. 2002; Stanley, Doyle 2002, 2003; Evans 2007; Bushaw-Newton et al. 2002).

3. Situation in Poland
There are 99 dam reservoirs in Poland, with the total volume of over 2 mln m3 [Projekt Narodowej Strategii Gospodarowania Wodami 2030 (z uwzględnieniem etapu 2015)]. They collect approximately 60 m3 of water per inhabitant, which is 20 times less that the world average. Therefore, it may seem that Poland is falling behind in these terms. Is it wise, however, to hurry to tackle this “back-log” by undertaking huge

efforts that would have to be continued by a few future generations? In the attempt to answer this question, we should consider the attitude to dams in countries with their highest numbers, where dam removal currently occurs year by year (the USA, Spain, France). The only sensible conclusion is that the construction of new dams, socially and financially costly, resulting in environmental damage, is at the same time burdening future generations with a problem costly and technically difficult to solve. The authors of the study edited by Wawręty and Żelaziński (2006) came to similar conclusions. They performed a comprehensive analysis of the validity of needs of seven dams in Poland, 4 functioning, 2 being under construction, and 1 planned. The authors’ approach to the issue was in accordance with the approach accepted previously by the World Commission on Dams (WCD 2000), and WWF (2005). The results of the Polish study prove that, with the exception of one dam, the Racibórz Reservoir on the Odra River, the effects of the operation of dams are far from what was assumed and expected, and inadequate to the investment and operating costs. The authors are not only critical in the assessment of dams, but also suggest alternative solutions. It is difficult to specify in what direction we are heading based on official state documents, such as Projekt Narodowej Strategii Gospodarowania Wodami 2030 (z uwzględnieniem etapu 2015). According to the document, the country has “not sufficient active volume of artificial retention reservoirs”. On the other hand, the document includes statements suggesting that “the necessity to increase natural retention can lead to the verification of small retention programmes, so far focused on small reservoirs”. The latter sentence constitutes a prediction of abandoning the construction of small retention reservoirs in the future. This would be in accordance with tendencies occurring in developed countries, where new dams are no longer constructed, and old dams are removed at a larger and larger scale. It is worth noticing that dams removed within the last dozen or so years are in majority small facilities with a height of few meters, defined in Poland as one of the elements of so-called small retention. However, another document entitled: “Polityka ekologiczna Państwa w latach 2009–2012 z perspektywą do roku 2016” (Ministerstwo Środowiska 2008) specifies the following as priority activities: the necessity of the “development of so-called small retention” (understood mainly as the construction of retention reservoirs on rivers), “with the financial support of the UE programmes – implementation of projects from the resources from the Operational Programme “Infrastructure and Environment” (Priority III)”. Such resources are also offered by the European Regional Development Fund within the scope of the ZPORR

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Programme (Measure 3.1. Rural Areas). The programme assumes an improvement of the “water balance, and the need of environmental protection”. The provision indicates that either its authors do not know what they talk about, or they do know the issue very well, attempting to deceive the public opinion by using false arguments. The availability of European Union resources for the implementation of measures in the scope of river regulation and dam construction can unblock many projects currently “frozen” due to lack of money, not always favourable, and often evidently damaging for the environment. It is interesting that the above mentioned documents, strategic for the water management policy of Poland, do not mention the need of dam removal, inevitable in the future, although the majority of dams in Poland have exceeded the age of 50. Such a long period of operation, according to the assessment of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), results in a deterioration of the dams’ technical condition, and in an increased risk of breakdowns. This is particularly important in view of insufficient financing of the activities necessary in this scope in Poland. The current practices obviously indicate the “pro-dam” policy of Poland. It is evidenced by the continued work on the construction of a few new large reservoirs, and decisions, taken recently, concerning repairs of dams in Włocławek and on Lake Nyskie, with an estimated cost of a few hundred million zlotys. Programmes involving so-called small retention are also still being implemented in a number of regions. There is a specific fashion in Polish communes to build small reservoirs on rivers. The quality of river waters flowing into the reservoirs, and the degree of development of wastewater management in the drainage areas, are not considered. As a result, the water in the new reservoirs is strongly eutrophicated, turbid, and often toxic, including cyanobacteria microcystins, already after a couple of years. Such water is neither suitable for recreation, nor good enough to support high quality of fish. In addition, it affects the river waters below the reservoirs. In a near future, the reservoirs will pose a serious problem, as by 2015, as a Member of the European Union, we are obliged to reach good ecological conditions of our waters. In addition, in a couple of tens of years, when the reservoirs age and silt, they will pose a problem very difficult to solve, as it is currently the case e.g. in the USA. It is certainly difficult to exclude the validity of the construction of new dams in Poland in the future. However, decisions on their construction should be preceded by a profound analysis of using alternative, more environmentally-friendly methods (WCD 2000; WWF 2004, 2005). Such

an analysis should also include fi nancial conditions, considering not only the costs of construction and operation, but also the costs of dam removal and land reclamation after a couple of tens of years.

4. References
Abu Zeid, M.A. 1989. Environmental impact of the Aswan High Dam. A case study. Water Resources Development 5, 147-157. About dams. International Rivers. http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/287 Adel, M.M. 2001. Effect on Water Resources from Upstream Water Diversion in the Ganges Basin. Journal of Environmental Quality 30, 356-368. Aspen Institute. 2002. Dam removal: a new option for a new century. Aspen Institute Queenstown, MD. USA http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/ content/docs/energy%20and%20environment%20 program/damremovaloption.pdf Bednarek, A.T. 2001. Undamming rivers: a review of the ecological impacts of dam removal. Environm. Managem. 27, 803-814. Bishop, P.R., Deslauriers, P., Gustavsen, L., Hopkinson, M., Reyes, P. 2003. Water Quality Report: 2002 Quabbin Reservoir Watershed Ware River Watershed. Metropolitan District Commission. Division of Watershed Management. Błędzki, L. 2003. Usuwanie zapór i rekultywacja rzek [Dam removal and river reclamation] Bioskop 2, 20-21. Brink, E., McClain, S., Rothert, S. 2004. Beyond Dams: Options & Alternatives. A report by American Rivers & International rivers network. http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/BeyondDams.Intro_.Overview.pdf Brufao, P. 2008. Dam Removal on a Roll in Spain. http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/3645 Bushaw-Newton, K.L., Hart, D.D., Pizzuto, J.E., Thompson, J.R., Egan, J., Ashley, J.T., Johnson, T.E., Horwitz, R.J., Keeley, M., Lawrence, J., Charles, D., Gatenby, C., Kreeger, D.A., Nightengale, T., Thomas, R.L., Velinsky, D. 2002. An integrative approach towards understanding ecological responses to dam removal: the Manatawny Creek Study. J. American Water Res. Assoc. 38, 1581-1599. Chen, L., Talwani, P. 1998. Reservoir-induced Seismicity in China. Pure Appl. Geophys. 153, 133-149. Chorus, I., Falconer, I.R., Salas, H.J., Bartram, J. 2000. Health risks caused by freshwater cyanobacteria in recreational waters. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 3, 324-347. Conyngham, J., Fischenich, J.C., White, K.D. 2006. Engineering and ecological aspects of dam removalan overview. EMRRP Technical Notes Collection (ERDCTN-EMRRP-SR-80), Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/emrrp/

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Dam removal in Massachusetts. 2007. A Basic Guide for Project Proponents. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. DCR. 2007. Quabbin Reservoir Watershed System: Land Management Plan 2007-2017. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of Water Supply Protection, Office of Watershed Management. 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. ISBN: 978-92-807-2816-3. http://www. unep.org/dams/files/Compendium/Compendium.pdf Del Sontro, T., Diem, T., Schubert, C. 2008. Wohlensee: lake flatulence and global warming. Eawag – Annual Report 2007, Switzerland. Evans, J.E. 2007. Sediment impacts of the 1994 failure of IVEX Dam (Chagrin River, NE Ohio): A Test of Channel Evolution Models. Journal of Great Lakes Research 33, 90-102. Fearnside, P.M. 2005. Do hydroelectric dams mitigate global warming? The case of Brazil’s Curuá-Una Dam. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10, 675-691. Giles, J. 2006. Methane quashes green credentials of hydropower. Nature 444, 524-525. Graham-Rowe, D. 2005. Hydroelectric power’s dirty secret revealed. New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7046 Grant, G. 2001. Dam removal: Panacea or Pandora for rivers? Hydro. Process. 15, 1531-1532. Hart, D.D., Johnson, T.E., Bushaw-Newton, K.L., Horwitz, R.J., Bednarek, A.T., Charles, D.F., Kreeger, D.A., Velinsky, D.J. 2002. Dam removal: Challenges and opportunities for ecological research and river restoration. BioScience 52, 669-681. Hartnady, C. 2003. Water: A focus of UN/ISDR Africa Programme in 2003. Umvoto Africa (Pty) Ltd. Johannesburg, South Africa. http://www.unisdr.org/ africa/af-informs/issue1/Issue1-2003-english-ISDR-informs-part4.pdf Humborg, C., Ittekkot ,V., Cosiasu, A., Bodungen, B.V. 1997. Effect of Danube River dam on Black Sea biogeochemistry and ecosystem structure. Nature 386, 385-388. Humborg, C., Conley, D.J., Rahm, L., Wulff, F., Cociasu, A., Ittekkot, V. 2000. Silicon retention in river basins: far-reaching effects on biogeochemistry and aquatic food webs in coastal marine environments. AMBIO 29, 45-50. Jankowski, W. 2000. Negatywny wpływ zabudowy hydrotechnicznej rzek na przyrodę [Negative impact of hydrotechnical activity on rivers] Instytut Ochrony Środowiska, Wrocław. http://tnz.most.org.pl/dokumenty/publ/psopp/ios_1.htm Kozłowski, B. 2007. Katastrofa zapory wodnej w Alpach Włoskich [The disaster of a dam in Italian Alps] http://kalendarium.polska.pl/wydarzenia/article. htm?id=36548

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Selected Library Resources on Dam Removal. http:// www.library.wwu.edu/ref/subjects/es/dam.htm. Shafroth, P.B., Friedman, J.M., Auble, G.T., Scott, M.L., Braatne, J.H. 2002. Potential responses of riparian vegetation to dam removal. BioScience 52, 703-712. Sinclair, J.L., Sherwood, H., Hambrook Berkman, J.A., Boyer, G., Burkholder, J., Burns, J., Carmichael, W., DuFour, A., Frazier, W., Morton, S.L., Eric O’Brien, E., Walker S. 2008. Occurrence of Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms. In: Hudnell, H.K. [Ed.] Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms: State of the Science and Research Needs. Advances experimental medicine and biology. 619, 45-103. Stanley, E.H., Doyle, M.W. 2002. A geomorphic perspective on nutrient retention following dam removal. BioScience 52, 693-702. Stanley, E.H., Doyle, M.W. 2003. Trading off: the ecological effects of dam removal. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1, 15-22. Stewart, G., Grant, G. 2007. Small Dam Removal Experiments – What can we learn? Watershed Processes Group. http://www.fsl.orst.edu/wpg/research/smalldams.htm Syvitski, J.M.P., Vörösmarty, C.J., Kettner, A.J., Green, P. 2005. Impact of humans on the flux of terrestrial sediment to the global coastal ocean. Science 308, 376-380. Talwani, P., Acree, S. 1984. Pore pressure diffusion and the mechanism of reservoir-induced seismicity. Pure and Applied Geophysics 122, 947-965. Vörösmarty, C.J., Sahagian D. 2000. Anthropogenic Disturbance of the Terrestrial Water Cycle. BioScience 50, 753-765. Vörösmarty, C.J., Sharma, K.P., Fekete, B.M., Copeland, A.H., Holden, J., Marble, J., Lough, J.A.

1997. The Storage and aging of continental runoff in large reservoir systems of the World. AMBIO 26, 210-219. Wawręty, R., Żelaziński, J. [Eds] 2006. Zapory a powodzie [Dams versus floods] Wyd. Towarzystwo na rzecz Ziemi, Polska Zielona Sieć. Oświęcim, Kraków. http://tnz.most.org.pl/pl/files/other/187.pdf WCD 2000. Dams and Development: a New Framework for Decision-making. The Report of the World Commission on Dams. WCD, Cape Town, South Africa. Whitelaw, E., MacMullan, E. 2002. A framework for estimating the costs and benefits of dam removal. Bioscience 52, 724-730. Winter, B.D., Crain, P. 2008. Making the case for ecosystem restoration by dam removal in the Elwha River, Washington. Northwest Science 82, 13-28. Wojtaszek, M. 2002. Maniowy – nostalgia [Maniowy village – nostalgy] http://nostalgia.maniowy.net/ 1024/4/13.php WWF 2004. Rivers at Risk. Dams and the future of freshwater ecosystems. WWF, prepared in cooperation with the World Resources Institute http://assets. panda.org/downloads/riversatriskfullreport.pdf WWF 2005. To dam or not to dam? Five years on from the World Commission on Dams. WWF. Global Freshwater Programme. http://assets.panda.org/ downloads/2045.pdf Żelaziński, J. 2000. Techniczne środki ochrony przeciwpowodziowej i ich zawodność – przykłady polskie i zagraniczne [Technical anti-flood protection measures and their deceptiveness – examples from Poland and abroad] Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej, Warszawa. http://tnz.most. org.pl/dokumenty/publ/psopp/imgw_w3.htm

Appendix
Interesting relevant information in the Internet http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/ http://www.americanrivers.org/assets/pdfs/dam-removal-docs/2009-dam-removals.pdf http://www.americanrivers.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AMR_damremoval_generalinfo http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1545 http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/CDRI/index.html http://www.rivernet.org/general/dams/decommissioning/decom3_e.htm, http://www.rivernet.org/general/dams/decommissioning/decom3_e.htm#context http://www.rivernet.org/general/dams/decommissioning/decom3_e.htm#context http://theboardman.org/meetingarchive/details/C57/35/ http://www.ussdams.org/c_decom.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg64mfkDbuM