"Europe’s Surprising Record of Dam Removals"

"A growing movement across the continent is working to remove thousands of barriers and restore some of the world’s most fragmented rivers."

"The 1999 demolition of the Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River set off a wave of dam removals across the United States. Since then some 1,200 dams have come down to help restore rivers and aquatic animals, improve water quality, and boost public safety — among other benefits.

Across the Atlantic, European nations have been busy removing thousands of river barriers, too. But until recently the efforts have gone largely unnoticed, even among experts.

Pao Fernández Garrido can attest to that.

An engineer and expert in ecosystem restoration from Spain, Fernández Garrido was finishing her master’s thesis in 2012 when she attend a dam-removal training in Massachusetts that was part of a conference on fish passage."

Tara Lohan reports for The Revelator November 30, 2022.

Source: The Revelator, 12/02/2022