Dam Removals:

Woodlands Lake Dam, Ardsley NY

In my home county of Westchester, New York, the biggest dam removal project is happening in Ardley, where the Woodlands Lake dam is being demolished in V. E. Macy Park.

In New York, rivers and streams are plugged with thousands of impoundments, big and small. There are more than 7000 dams, and probably many more that haven’t crossed regulators’ radar.

The Woodlands Lake Dam has (or, should I say, had) this in common with so many legacy dams: it articicailly warmed the water that backs up in the impoundment, baking in the summer sun.

Woodlands Lake, before dam removal: a silty, muddy, dry and dewatered lakebed in summer. Dams artificially warm the water they impound, leading to the loss of biodiversity up and down the stream.

The stone masonry and concrete dam was built in 1840, and the resulting impoundment has served the county variously as a park, swimming pool, circus location and scenic backdrop for a restaurant (as well as a cameo in the Netflix film, The Irishman).

All fancied up for Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese’s 2019 film, The Irishman: The buildings at the shore of Woodlands Lake.

But the lake created by the dam was only six feet deep at its deepest, and as temperatures in Westchester rise with climate change, the amount of water evaporating off its surface also increased. Removing the dam and storing water in underground aquifers makes water supplies more resilient in an increasingly warmer world.

As a practical matter, the dam was deemed old, obsolete and expensive to maintain.

Once the dam removal process is complete, a pre-engineered bridge will be placed over the river. Pedestrians and cyclists on the Empire State Trail will then have access to V.E. Macy park.

These photos were taken after two days of rain pounded the area, but you can see the  Saw Mill River channel taking shape in the former lake bed.

Aerial view of the demolition site of a dam on the Saw Mill River in Westchester County, NY

Below, you can see where riffle structures have been built to slow down the rush of water and reduce erosion, all while providing hiding and nesting places for aquatic animals — a far cry from the sluggish, sediment-laden pond of the past.

Riffle control structures installed in the Saw Mill River stream channel, where Woodlands Lake once lay. The dam removal project will result in a liveable environment for aquatic animals and flora, and a naturally cooler one.

A dam rehabilitation project gets underway in the Catskills.

New work for a dam rehabilitation and removal project in the Catskill mountain area of New York.

When it was built, the dam was the second-largest dam in the United States. Today, it’s an aging, high-hazard dam that holds back a large impoundment area on the Rondout Creek in Napanoch, New York. This project, along with stabilizing the dam, will rehabilitate the streambed and floodplain.

We’re providing the progress photography and videography, including aerial work, for this historic project.

Frozen water in the spillway, Catskills dam project.

Beautiful tawny fields of wintertime in Napanoch, New York.

An overhead look at the creekbed, where a lake used to be. Rivers in the Northeast have for too long given enough to development and energy. Dam removal and stream restoration projects like this one re-establish vital riverine connectivity.

Rugged Roundout Creek, downstream of the dam.