Undammed

Free-flowing riversin the United Statesare an endangered species. With more than 500,000 dams in place, we've dammed and diverted almostevery major river, straightening curves and blockingpassage for fish and other aquatic animals, pushing many to the brink. Now a heartening new movement ishelping to demolish harmful orobsolete structuresand restorenew life to rivers and the communities that depend on them. In doing so, it offers a pathway to undoing environmental harm to nature-and to ourselves. In Undammed, environmentaljournalist Tara Lohan takes a clear-eyed look at the unexpected benefits of dam removalafter centuries of dam-building. In helping to restore rivers, she argues, we're protecting our owncommunities by improving water quality, enhancing public safety, and boosting fish populationsthat feed people and restore rights for Native American Tribes. Lohanchronicles the removal effort of four dams on the Klamath River in northern California and southern Oregon, the largest dam-removal and river-restoration project in the world. In the Northwest, she walks readers through the politically heated debate over potential removal of damson the Lower Snake River inWashington to help restore salmon and orcas. And shevisits the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers in Maine where timeis running out to save Atlantic salmon. In the Southwest, Lohan considers the need to rethink the concrete monoliths on its largest rivers in the face of longer droughts, higher temperatures, and overallocated resources. And in Ohio, she highlights how removing unneeded dams is helpingthe once lifelessCuyahoga River bounce back, benefitting urban communities ininnumerable, tangible ways. In other efforts across the country, she shows whyremoving deadbeat and small dams can have big impacts and is helping drive action beyond ourborders. In Europe, where river barriers occur almostevery half-mile,the USmovement is spurring a rival effort to restore natural flow to riversdegraded by obstructions.  Undammed isan inspirational look at ourchanging relationship with thenatural world, showing the cascade of benefits that come when we no longer turn our backs on rivers. And in helping torestore rivers, we're helping ourselves.