Dam removal restores aquatic ecosystem within three years

by Krishna Ramanujan, Cornell University
July 28, 2025

The ecology of an upstate New York stream rebounded to its natural state within three years after a small dam was removed, highlighting how quickly aquatic ecosystems can recover, according to a new study.

Water resource managers are increasingly investigating removing dams to restore connectivity and improve aquatic habitats, water quality and fish passage, according to the paper.

“The research demonstrates the resilience of nature to recover from imperiled states,” said Jeremy Dietrich ’02, M.S. ’15, principal aquatic ecologist at the New York State Water Resources Institute (WRI) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and lead author of the study appearing June 22 in Ecosphere. “We can show that the potential is there to reproduce these results at other sites,” he said.

The findings also suggest that repeating these types of improvements at many sites within a watershed can potentially lead to cumulative benefits on a regional scale, Dietrich said.

Keep reading: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/07/dam-removal-restores-aquatic-ecosystem-within-three-years

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.70323