List of dam removals in the United States

The 100 ft (30 m) privately owned Rindge Dam on Malibu Creek in the Santa Monica Mountains of California was built in 1924 and has been allowed to completely fill with sediment, making it functionally obsolete but still a potential hazard.

The similar 1947 Matilija Dam near Ojai, California was built against the advice of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others, and also blocked steelhead trout spawning grounds.

This lake, while providing recreational opportunities, has eliminated more than 160 miles (260 km) of habitat for endangered Colorado River fish species.

In October 2011, PacifiCorp contractors used explosives to blow a 15-foot (4.6 m) hole in the dam to drain its reservoir and allow young salmon to enter the Columbia River and head to sea.

Its removal has been extremely successful at improving access for Pacific Salmon and steelhead to the upper Sandy River watershed up into the Mount Hood Wilderness.

Four dams along the lower Snake River, built and still operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, serve as hydroelectric power sources as well as maintaining an inland port at Lewiston, Idaho for agricultural barge traffic.

The four are candidates for removal because of millions of cubic yards accumulated behind the dams, which are raising water levels for riverside cities.

[12] The city of Lewiston, Idaho and others along the Snake have built a system of levees maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps admits that the amount of sediment in the riverbed is too great for dredging to be effective, and Lewiston community leaders are worried that higher levees will further cut the town off from its rivers.

[14] The 6-foot (1.8 m) tall Cuddebackville Dam on the Neversink River was built in two portions dating from the 1820s (for water diversion into a canal) and 1915 (for hydroelectric power).

After spawning there, the salmon die and their carcasses decompose, releasing marine nutrients laid down in their bodies as they fed in the open ocean.

[16] Built in 1837, the 24-foot (7.3 m) tall Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine blocked passage to Atlantic Salmon and American Shad.

Preservationist groups such as the Sierra Club lobby for the restoration of the valley, while others argue that leaving the dam in place would be the better economic and environmental decision.

This ORW designation indicates the Kinni provides outstanding recreational opportunities, supports valuable fisheries and wildlife habitat, has good water quality, and is not significantly impacted by human activities.

[27] This designation indicates that the State of Wisconsin has determined the Kinnickinnic River warrants additional protection from the effects of pollution.

The Glines Canyon Dam , the largest dam ever to be removed, shown mid-demolition in 2012
Rindge Dam near Malibu, California , built in 1924, completely silted and abandoned by the 1950s
Glen Canyon Dam
Little Goose Dam , Washington, United States
The Upper "Junction Falls" Dam on the Kinnickinnic River in River Falls, Wisconsin as it appears today. The Historic Junction Falls are obscured by its presence, the lowest ledge of the Junction Falls now sits as the dry ledge below the base of the dam.
The historic Junction Falls of the yet-undammed Kinnickinnic River in River Falls, Wisconsin . Photograph taken by John Carbutt between 1864 and 1865 and published as a stereoview in a set of scenery pictures of "The Upper Mississippi, Minnesota and the Vicinity". [ 23 ]