Dam Removal On Fossil Creek (AZ) Brings Native Species Roaring Back To LIfe

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Fossil Creek presented a rich learning environment. A 17-mile-long tributary to the Verde River, the creek flows down the face of the Mogollon Rim in a rugged canyon that stretches from Strawberry to its confluence outside Camp Verde. Natural springs feed the lower 14 miles of the creek. The springs flow year-round at a steady volume and an almost-constant water temperature of about 72 degrees. And then there's the travertine. Water from the springs distributes minerals that build stunning layers of travertine, which create shimmering blue-green pools and similarly hued waterfalls. The pools provide shelter and spawning grounds for native fish, whose numbers had dwindled to nearly none.

But Fossil Creek tempted dam builders from the start. Its reliable flow and its location upstream from mining operations and growing towns proved irresistible. In 1909, the creek was diverted to generate electricity in the Irving power plant. In 1916, the Childs power plant was built farther downstream, and the creek was left dry except for storm runoff. Its water was shunted through flumes and penstocks, captive until it emptied into the Verde River just upstream from the creek's natural confluence. The two plants were still producing about 4 megawatts of power in 1999 when their owner, Arizona Public Service, decided to voluntarily shut down operations on the creek and decommission the dam. The structure remains in place for now; its gates were opened to allow water to flow into the riverbed.

Marks joined NAU in 1999, after spending several years working overseas for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and she wanted to find a long-term project. Dam removal was becoming more common, but little research existed about its effects. She decided Fossil Creek offered an ideal setting, and she won a National Science Foundation grant to pursue the work.

For a long time, no one except environmental advocates talked much about removing dams, which were seen as necessary for water storage, flood control, power generation and recreation. When author Edward Abbey wrote The Monkey Wrench Gang in 1975, he was roundly condemned for portraying eco-terrorists plotting to blow up Glen Canyon Dam. But dams live limited lives. They grow obsolete as generators wear out or reservoirs fill with sediment. Nearly 500 dams have been decommissioned around the United States since the early 1980s, according to studies by groups such as American Rivers and Friends of the Earth. The Fossil Springs dam was the first major structure in Arizona to be retired.

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0624undam0625.html