Wonderful eco story for KY. Imagine canoing from below the dam at Green River
Lake, 130 miles, 2-4 nights camping on the river, birding as you go, the long
section thru the middle of Mammoth Cave National Park is almost isolated
wilderness, to the new take out above the Rochester Dam.
Preston Forsythe, Browder, KYSeven miles from Rochester, KY
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On Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 7:23 AM, Ce Ci<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
link to article follows text
Kentucky dam removal will improve fishing and recreation | Lexington Herald
Leader
Kentucky
‘A tremendous win.’ Kentucky dam removal will help an ecological treasure.
By Bill Estep
Updated September 20, 2021 4:56 PM
Duration 1:35
'About 20 years in the making': Lock and dam to be removed on Green River
Environmental and federal groups have teamed up on a project to remove Green
River Lock and Dam No. 5 in Butler County, Ky. It is the first one removed in
several years and the largest dam removal in state history. By Ryan C. Hermens
Pretty soon, one of the state’s ecological treasures will get even better,
thanks to the largest dam-removal project in Kentucky history.
Partners in the project showcased work Monday on removing Lock and Dam 5 on the
Green River between Butler and Warren counties.
Officials said getting rid of the 301-foot long dam and lock structure,
allowing the river to flow freely, will improve habitat for species including
fish and mussels, make the river safer, improve fishing and create
opportunities for expanded recreational use such as kayaking and canoeing.
“It’s just a tremendous win for the river and the people who love it,” said
David Phemister, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Kentucky.
Dams alter rivers in ways that raise water temperatures, lower the amount of
oxygen available, increase sediment and hurt water quality, which hurts aquatic
species.
The Green River is home to 150 fish species and 70 mussel species, and of
those, 43 occur nowhere else, making it one of the most biologically diverse
rivers in the country, said Dave Dreves, acting head of fisheries for the state
Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
Studies have shown much higher levels of aquatic life in unimpeded stretches of
the river, Dreves said.
The stretch of the river just below the defunct Lock and Dam 5 is a rich mussel
bed and is home to one species, the rough pigtoe, not found anywhere else, said
Lee Andrews, field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Kentucky.
Removing the dam will create conditions for mussels to spread in the river, he
said.
Environmental and federal groups have teamed up to remove Green River Lock
and Dam No. 5 in Butler County, Ky. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“We’re gonna restore a long reach of the river,” Andrews said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the dam in 1934 to allow boats to haul
cargo and passengers on the river, including visitors to Mammoth Cave,
according to The Nature Conservancy.
However, the Corps of Engineers stopped operating the structure in 1951. In
addition to creating a pooled condition that was not good for aquatic life,
that didn’t leave a way to pass the structure on the river.
Changing that became possible with legislation pushed by Republican U.S. Sen.
Mitch McConnell and signed in 2016 to de-authorize the structure from the Corps
of Engineers inventory, according to The Nature Conservancy.
Lee Andrews, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor, speaks during
a media conference about a project environmental and federal groups have teamed
up on to remove Green River Lock and Dam No. 5 in Butler County, Ky., on
Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
McConnell also arranged for federal funding for the $4.6 million removal
project.
There were more than 700 dams removed around the country between 2011 and 2020,
but only about half a dozen of those were in Kentucky, according to American
Rivers, which advocates for dam removal and tracks the numbers.
One of those was Lock and Dam 6, which was 13 miles upstream on the Green River
from the project underway at No. 5 and was taken out in 2017.
A dam on a tributary of the Green River also is scheduled to be removed.
Funding is in place for the job and permits are being acquired, said Hayley
Lynch, spokeswoman for The Nature Conservancy.
The groups and agencies involved in removing the Green River dams are The
Nature Conservancy, the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and Kentucky Waterways
Alliance.
Environmental and federal groups have teamed up to remove Green River Lock
and Dam No. 5 in Butler County, Ky. Monday, Sept. 20, 2021 Ryan C. Hermens
rhermens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
With the removal of the two lock and dam structures on the main stem, nearly
200 miles of the Green River will return to a free-flowing state, Phemister
said.
Workers have already removed the 360-foot long lock on the Butler County side
of the river, using concrete from that to build a platform in the river to
bring in equipment that will jackhammer out the dam.
The work to breech the dam could start this week. Once it is gone, workers will
remove the platform.
The Nature Conservancy will take title to the land after the project with the
ultimate goal of opening it for public recreation.
“Future generations are really gonna benefit from what we accomplish here,”
Andrews said.
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 3:10 PM.
1 of 2 Environmental and federal groups have teamed up to remove
Green River Lock and Dam No. 5 in Butler County, Ky. Ryan C. Hermens
rhermens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
‘A tremendous win.’ Kentucky dam removal will help an ecological treasure.
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‘A tremendous win.’ Kentucky dam removal will help an ecological treasure.
The lock and dam on the Green River has been unused for decades.
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Read more here:
https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article254374638.html#storylink=cpy
