Embrey Dam Removal

On Monday, February 23, 2004, a 100-foot section of the Embrey Dam on the Rappahannock River was breached.

This initial breaching was an important first step toward complete removal, to be accomplished by spring 2006. Breaching the dam will reopen 106 miles of historical spawning habitat on the Rappahannock and its tributaries to a number of species including American shad, blueback herring, alewife, hickory shad, and striped bass.

Brief history of Embrey Dam:

Embrey Dam, 22 feet high, was constructed in 1910, replacing a crib dam dating back to 1853. Until recently, the dam provided water to a Virginia Electric Power Company power station as well as supplied drinking water for the city of Fredericksburg by way of a historic navigational canal. With the dam in place, the Rappahannock River is impassible above Fredericksburg to anadromous fishes during their annual voyage from the Chesapeake Bay, causing many miles of potential spawning habitat to be lost.

Why is removal of the dam important?

Annual monitoring indicates that shad and herring populations in Virginia are severely depressed. The total number of pounds of American shad caught in the James, Rappahannock, and York Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay declined sharply from 8 million pounds in 1900 to a mere 5,000 pounds in 1990, due in part to loss of spawning habitat caused by dam construction.

Breaching Embrey Dam will reopen 71 miles of the mainstem Rappahannock River and 35 miles of the Rapidan River, a major tributary, for a total of 106 miles of historically known spawning and rearing habitat for migratory shad and herring. Several additional miles on smaller tributaries will also be accessible. Anadromous fish populations may eventually return to, or near, historic levels with fish passage, supplemental stocking, and a harvest moratorium all contributing to the recovery.

This population increase will have important recreational and commercial impacts. Many of these species also contribute to the food chain as forage for predatory fish and provide a marine-based energy source to freshwater systems. The catadromous American eel (opposite of anadromous) and other migrants such as striped bass will benefit too.

The Rappahannock River is one of Virginia's top destinations for smallmouth bass angling, canoeing and camping along an almost completely unspoiled historical river corridor. Virginia designates the Rappahannock River as a "State Scenic River". About 24,000 angler visits totaling nearly 100,000 hours of fishing pressure are accommodated annually above Fredericksburg and Embrey Dam.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Embrey Dam
• Implosion
• Removal

[mrstuperstefan]

You didnt even show the water torrent. FAIL

[Jemalacane]

But that dam looked so cool! They shouldn't have destroyed it!

[Mnetti00]

the taliban asshole, who u think army engineers probably

[FistyPhil]

Who rigged the explosives?