Location
Room 232, Schewel Hall
Access Type
Open Access
Presentation Type
Oral presentation
Entry Number
70
Start Date
4-16-2026 2:15 PM
End Date
4-16-2026 2:30 PM
School
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department
Environmental Science
Keywords
Water Quality, Dam Removal, Urbanization, Stream Restoration
Abstract
Dam removal in the United States has become a common practice for stream restoration and community safety. Studies have shown removals to restore an ecosystem to its natural flow, but in urban environments, dams can serve as a retention basin that helps to mitigate increased amounts of stormwater and high pollution loads from increased percentages of impervious surfaces. A central Virginia watershed located in an urbanized community recently experienced a low-head dam removal and its conversion to a constructed wetland. This study assesses the short-term impacts of the dam removal through water quality sampling based on its chemical, biota, and habitat properties. A statistical analysis was used to determine if the impacts being observed at the site downstream of the dam is experiencing dam or urban degradation through the comparison of five selected stream sites. Results indicated that one form of degradation is present with both urban and dam impacts merging together creating an enhanced level of urbanization on the stream ecosystem. Insights to the short-term response of a dam is provided in this study, but a necessity for long-term monitoring can determine if the constructed wetland and downstream environment will ecologically recover the affected areas.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Thomas Shahady Dr. David Perault
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Environmental Science and Sustainability
Additional Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Brooke Haiar (Environmental Science and Sustainability) Dr. Laura Henry-Stone (Environmental Science and Sustainability) Dr. Paul McClure (Sociology)
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The Short-Term Water Quality Impacts of the College Lake Low-Head Dam Removal
Room 232, Schewel Hall
Dam removal in the United States has become a common practice for stream restoration and community safety. Studies have shown removals to restore an ecosystem to its natural flow, but in urban environments, dams can serve as a retention basin that helps to mitigate increased amounts of stormwater and high pollution loads from increased percentages of impervious surfaces. A central Virginia watershed located in an urbanized community recently experienced a low-head dam removal and its conversion to a constructed wetland. This study assesses the short-term impacts of the dam removal through water quality sampling based on its chemical, biota, and habitat properties. A statistical analysis was used to determine if the impacts being observed at the site downstream of the dam is experiencing dam or urban degradation through the comparison of five selected stream sites. Results indicated that one form of degradation is present with both urban and dam impacts merging together creating an enhanced level of urbanization on the stream ecosystem. Insights to the short-term response of a dam is provided in this study, but a necessity for long-term monitoring can determine if the constructed wetland and downstream environment will ecologically recover the affected areas.
Comments
I made my presentation on Google Slides and am nervous converting it to a powerpoint is messing it up so I have a pdf version in the full text submission and am linking the google slide link here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11epgbpPjJc8I0Z2seOVCFk-wRrMefINYnXXdk8VvByY/edit?usp=sharing