Born SM, Genskow KD, Filbert TL, Hernandez-Mora N, Keefer ML, White KA
Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Environmental Studies Old Music Hall, 925 Bascom Mall University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
Environ Manage. 1998 May;22(3):359-70. doi: 10.1007/s002679900111.
/ There are tens of thousands of small dams in the United States; many of these aging structures are deteriorating. Governments and dam owners face decisions regarding repair or removal of these structures. Along with the many benefits society derives from dams and their impoundments, numerous recent ecological studies are revealing the extensive alteration and degradation of river ecosystems by dams. Dam removal-a principal restoration strategy-is an infrequent event. The major reasons for removal have been public safety and the high costs associated with repair; the goal of river ecosystem restoration now warrants greater attention. Substantial study is being given to the environmental aspects of dams and dam removals, but very little attention has been given to the socioeconomic and institutional dimensions associated with the removal of dams, although these factors play a significant role in the removal decision-making process. Based on a case study of dam removals in Wisconsin-where more than 30 of the state's 3600 small dams have been removed in the past few decades-legal, financial, and socioeconomic issues associated with dam removal are documented and assessed. Dam removal has been complex and contentious, with limited community-based support for removal and loss of the impounded waters. In cases examined here, the estimated costs of repairing a dam averaged more than three times the cost of removal. The availability of governmental financing has been a key determinant in removal decisions. Watershed-scale ecological considerations are not major factors for most local interests. As watershed management and restoration increasingly include dam removal options as part of an integrated strategy, more attention will need to be focused on socioeconomic factors and stakeholder perspectives-variables that strongly influence the viability of this management alternative.KEY WORDS: Dam removal; River restoration; Institutions; Stakeholders
美国有数以万计的小型水坝；其中许多老旧建筑正在恶化。政府和水坝所有者面临着关于这些建筑修复或拆除的决策。除了社会从水坝及其蓄水设施中获得的诸多益处外，近期大量的生态研究表明，水坝对河流生态系统造成了广泛的改变和破坏。拆除水坝——一种主要的恢复策略——是一件不常发生的事情。拆除水坝的主要原因是公共安全以及与修复相关的高昂成本；河流生态系统恢复的目标现在值得更多关注。人们对水坝及拆除水坝的环境方面进行了大量研究，但对于与拆除水坝相关的社会经济和制度层面却很少关注，尽管这些因素在拆除决策过程中起着重要作用。基于对威斯康星州拆除水坝的案例研究——在过去几十年里，该州3600座小型水坝中有30多座已被拆除——记录并评估了与拆除水坝相关的法律､财务和社会经济问题。拆除水坝一直很复杂且存在争议，社区对拆除的支持有限，蓄水水域也有所损失。在此处研究的案例中，修复一座水坝的估计成本平均是拆除成本的三倍多。政府资金的可获得性一直是拆除决策的关键决定因素。对于大多数地方利益相关者来说，流域尺度的生态考量并非主要因素。随着流域管理和恢复越来越多地将拆除水坝选项作为综合策略的一部分，需要更多地关注社会经济因素和利益相关者的观点——这些变量强烈影响这种管理方式的可行性。关键词：水坝拆除；河流恢复；制度；利益相关者
