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My city removed a few low head dams near the center of the city over the last decade. We are still in the process of a major reworking of the sewer system (to t
by Severian 5y ago
My city removed a few low head dams near the center of the city over the last decade. We are still in the process of a major reworking of the sewer system (to the tune of a few billion dollars) to separate wastewater from storm water due to EPA regulations. Because untreated wastewater is no longer flowing into the rivers, one thing we found is that we didn't need so many low head dams to keep incision from occurring as much.
This improved our downtown as it allowed us to also alter the river channel and opening up some land to build new parks on. Paddle boaters can travel much further, and the river ecology is improving drastically.
- CapitalistCartr 5y ago"Incision"?
- maxerickson 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_incision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_incision
- roflc0ptic 5y agoThis doesn’t entirely disambiguate OP’s sentence - he’s tying the lack of incision to no longer having untreated wastewater. Is that to say that treated wastewater would somehow cause incision, or just that the untreated wastewater increases volume and thus erosion?
- bobthepanda 5y agoGenerally speaking events that overwhelm wastewater/stormwater combined systems are large storms, so if the decision is made to release untreated water you're probably releasing a lot of it all at once from whatever few outlets you have. Maybe that's what causes incision? But hydrology isn't my area of expertise.
- jonstewart 5y agoNeat, which city? I live in Washington DC which is in a similar position, where an EPA consent decree to clean up the river and deal with old sewer overflow is driving lots of neat infrastructure and cleaning up the waterfronts rather dramatically. No low head dams that I’m aware of, however, though maybe there’s one on Rock Creek.
- pge 5y agoThere’s a very dangerous low head dam in DC area just upstream of chain bridge. It is used to divert water for drinking. Fortunately clear warning signs on the water have prevented any recent fatalities, but there were a number in the past.
- jonstewart 5y agoYeah, I’m sure there are several in the greater metro area outside DC proper. Drownings on the Potomac seem pretty common
- fitzoh 5y agoThe description definitely matches Columbus, Ohio. https://u.osu.edu/strive/research/dam-removal/ https://u.osu.edu/strive/research/dam-removal/ https://www.sciotomile.com/about/ https://www.sciotomile.com/about/
- Severian 5y agoBingo! I was not aware the 5th Ave. dam was used for cooling in the past. Most of my knowledge about the removal was talking to some people who worked on the project, and they mentioned water erosion (incision). I guess I added 2+2 and got 5.
- AviationAtom 5y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Falls_Dam_(Potomac_River) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Falls_Dam_(Potomac_Ri...