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Environmental Groups Work to Remove Old Mid-State Dams

cumberlandrivercompact.org

 

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Two environmental groups have partnered in an effort to find and remove old dams along waterways in here in the mid-state.

The Cumberland River Compact and The Nature Conservancy have already located more than a dozen dams and plan to map out more this summer.

Compact Director Mekayle Houghton says many of the dams were created by landowners decades ago.

“A lot of these dams are up to 50, 100 years old and they may have been used to create pools in the river to pull out water for irrigation.”

Houghton says the dams compromise water quality and keep native species from traveling up and down the waterway.

She says one of the first dams slated for removal is on Sevenmile Creek in Davidson County, home to the endangered Nashville crayfish.

Houghton says work to remove the dam could begin in August.