Blasts Spell Beginning of the End for Marmot Dam

In a fillip to the river restoration projects being executed in the US, work is in progress to obliterate the Marmot Dam. Work started full tilt on Tuesday. The day started with a series of explosions. When it was all over, Marmot Dam was on its way to becoming a piece of Portland history, being the biggest dam to be destroyed in Oregon so far.

Peggy Fowler, chief executive of PGE, brought the plunger down at 12:05 p.m. to initiate the proceedings. She said it was sad the dam had to go, but it was a requirement, and something that had to be done. It was time to bid goodbye to Marmot Dam, she said.

By bringing down the plunger, Fowler set off blasts in holes dug into the dam at strategic locations, 68 of them. The blasts caused columns of orange-brown and white dust to rise up from the dam. The explosions have been successful in weakening the top of the dam.

With the top of the 47-feet high dam weakened by the explosions, the next step is to use pneumatic hammers to finish off the job. It will take a total of four months to remove the dam completely. All the concrete pieces that form part of the debris will be recycled.

The removal of the dam will bring the area back to its pre-dam days. More importantly, it will result in salmon and steelhead gaining access to close to 100 miles of the surrounding habitat on the Sandy River.

The removal of the dam also means the Sandy River would be able to flow without any obstructions from its source in Mount Hood to its meeting point with the Columbia River, for the first time since 1912.

The Marmot Dam is where Portland General Electric (PGE) has been garnering electricity from for almost a hundred years now. In keeping with the river restoration project, PGE is in the process of closing down the Bull Run hydroelectric project.

The decision to close down the PGE project came about after being in the pipeline for almost a decade now. Removing the dam seemed a more cost-effective option than modifying it so it met the river restoration project objectives. The decision to decommission the project was taken way back in 1999.

For the clarification of readers, PGE is different from the system of reservoirs on the Bull Run River. Those reservoirs provide Portland with drinking water, and are not being removed.

The river restoration project involves removing a number of dams on a specific route, thereby opening up those habitats for salmon and steelhead. Besides, it will also provide fishing and boating opportunities for the communities that live alongside these affected areas.

The restoration project was finalized after studies showed a sharp falls in the number of salmon and steelhead in the regions after the construction of the Marmot and Little Sandy dams. The current runs of salmon and steelhead are a mere fraction of the large numbers that were seen earlier. Annual highs earlier included 15,000 coho salmon, 20,000 winter steelhead, and 8,000 to 10,000 spring Chinook.

The restoration of the habitats of these species becomes even more relevant today, as they are all on the federal endangered species list. While it may still be some time before the situation with the fish runs improve, the dam removal is a very important first step in improving their habitat.

23 organizations got together to put up the plan to remove the dam. A plan to decommission PGE saw the light in 2002 October. The process of PGE surrendering its license, which was to expire in 2004, was started in November 2002.

Once the PGE is decommissioned, it will donate 1,500 acres of its property towards the creation of a 9,000 acre natural resource and recreational area. This area will be looked after by the federal Bureau of Land Management.