Removal of Main Street Dam: Creating a Thriving Ecosystem from a Degraded and Impounded River in Urban Downtown Stamford, Connecticut

摘要

In 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), partnering with the City of Stamford, CT, restored the degraded Mill River ecosystem in an urban section of a Connecticut coastal city by removal of Main Street Dam along with polluted sediment removal, channel restoration, and floodplain restoration in the formerly impounded reach. Channel restoration included construction of a sinuous channel with a sequence of riffles and pools, modeled after less degraded reaches. Mill River (also Rippowam River) flows into Long Island Sound. The dam removal allowed restoration of native anadromous herring runs and spawning in the Rippowam River watershed. This $8-million project, started in 2001 and completed in 2012, was cost-shared by the Corps and City of Stamford through the Corps Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program, under the authority provided by Section 206 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996, as amended.