6 minute read
Dams, Dams, Dams
by Dr. Bryan Burroughs, Michigan TU Executive Director
You may have lately noticed that Michigan Trout Unlimited talks a lot about dams and dam removal. It’s true, and it won’t likely change any time soon. We are focusing heavily on dams and removals because of the significance of their impacts on streams and coldwater fisheries and how powerful removal can be in enhancing and preserving coldwater fisheries for the future.
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From the earliest times of the United States, people noticed that when dams were erected on streams, the loss of fisheries resulted soon after. Where citizens had benefitted from an annual run of shad or herring up a river, once the local saw or grist mill dam was built, there was a demise of those fish. Yet, for hundreds of years, the benefits of dams won the political balancing act against their detriments. So many dams we built across the country that it’s believed there are now over 75,000 larger dams and at least 2,500 dams in Michigan.
Rivers are, by definition, flowing water. Dams, by definition, are structures that impede flowing water. Dams lead to two basic impacts on rivers and streams: 1). They fragment rivers by preventing the movements of organisms throughout watersheds, and 2). They alter river habitats by changing the underlying processes of how water, sediments, and nutrients are supposed to work, which leads to drastically different conditions.
In Michigan, this creates lake-like habitat within rivers and usually results in warmer water temperatures downstream of dams. In many cases, warming water temperatures can seriously affect coldwater fisheries. Sometimes, an individual dam can warm water temperature by just a degree, while in other situations, a dam can warm water temperatures significantly. We’ve seen several that raised temperatures by 4-12 degrees F. Even slight warming can be enough on a marginal temperature river to make it unsuitable for coldwater fish. In other places, there are enough dams sequentially that the cumulative impacts add up to make rivers unsuitable for coldwater fisheries.
Given the number of dams and their negative impact, this poses an opportunity to improve river systems immediately if we can remove them. Dam removal can immediately improve fisheries, reset water temperatures to significantly colder conditions to offset future warming, and open-up passage so fish can access the full diversity of critical habitats fish need to flourish and survive in the future. That’s an incredibly powerful tool for coldwater fish conservation, and it’s why Michigan TU remains focused on dam removals.
In this issue of Michigan Trout, you’ll see articles on two dam removal projects, one focused on resolving water temperature problems and one driven by reconnecting 23 miles of a tributary system with the main stem of the Au Sable River. Michigan TU has many more of these projects under development, and by next year we expect to help with dam removal in a record number of places all over the state. But working on dam removals is only one of the approaches. Michigan TU was involved in the Michigan Dam Safety Taskforce, which reviewed state and federal dam regulations and made recommendations to the governor and legislature for improvements in dam management to get our state system of management of this aging infrastructure problem under better control. Some proposals have been worked on by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy already. The Michigan legislature introduced a package of bills to address other recommendations about a year ago, but it did not hold hearings and move them to votes this session. We will be pushing for the reintroduction and development of the bills next session.
One of the recommendations of the taskforce was to develop a database to hold information about all dams in Michigan. Also, there is a need to plan what information is most critical and useful about these dams and develop an inventory process. Each dam will vary in complexity, constraints, costs, impacts, and value in removal. Without an inventory of these considerations, it’s difficult to identify and prioritize future efforts that will be most valuable and cost-effective. We will be working to support this need in 2023.
Michigan TU remains heavily involved in dam relicensing through the Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition. This group participates in the relicensing processes for electricity-generating dams. There are currently several dams in various stages of the relicensing
process, including on the Boyne, Black, and Au Train Rivers. Michigan TU works with its MHRC partners, which include Anglers of the Au Sable, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Fly Fishers International, and the Michigan Salmon & Steelhead Association.
We communicated with TU members via email this fall about the new developments concerning the 13 hydroelectric dams owned and operated by Consumers Energy. CE had announced a process whereby they will review the long-term future of their hydroelectric dams. They conducted local town hall meetings near each dam and opened their website for public comments. This process is partly due to the CE planning process and partly to a requirement from the Michigan Public Service Commission for setting depreciation rates for the hydro projects, which determine customer rates.
Michigan TU is researching critical information relevant to the future of these dams and will be involved in this process through the CE public comment period and beyond in other relevant comment processes. Many of these dams violate state water quality standards and Clean Water Act provisions of their FERC licenses by warming water temperatures and affecting coldwater fisheries, including Croton, Tippy, Hodenpyle, Mio, Foote, and Alcona Dams. These 13 hydro-dams now produce roughly 50 MW, representing approximately 1% of CE’s electricity portfolio. The value of the electricity produced exceeds their annual basic operations/maintenance costs by only $300,000 per year.
These dams are now in need of major capital investments. Hardy Dam alone is projected to require $400 million over the next three years. The capital investments needed for these dams are reported to make up around 50% of all capital investments by CE annually. The cost of wind and solar electricity has dropped. In contrast, hydro dams have increased, resulting in 1 MW of hydroelectricity now costing about 31 times as much as 1 MW of wind electricity. Together, many of these dams impair coldwater fisheries but are not economically cost-efficient for the small amount of electricity they produce.
CE will work in 2023 to decide on the long-term fate of its dams. However, as a publicly regulated utility, the costs required to maintain these dams must be approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission. The MPSC is dutybound to review these financial decisions in considering what is reasonable and fair to electricity ratepayers. Michigan TU believes that the MPSC also needs to decide the future of these dams. We will stay involved in this process and communicate the impact of these dams on coldwater fisheries. This will no doubt take many years.
Dams and dam removals are critical in our fight for the future of Michigan’s coldwater fisheries. Water temperature and watershed connectivity are fundamental to having healthy and resilient coldwater fisheries to pass to future generations. The number of dams and their negative impact is a current impairment and threat but provides valuable opportunities to improve cold waters for the future. That’s why you’re hearing so much from Michigan TU about the issue and will continue to well into the future.
The Legacy of a River is an amazing gift…
