Dam Removals on the Lower Saranac River in Plattsburgh, NY
Roy Schiff
SLR Consulting
Waterbury, VT
Doug Osborne
SLR Consulting
Waterbury, VT
David Minkoff
US Fish & Wildlife Service
Essex Junction, VT
Authors: Schiff, R., Osborne, D., Minkoff, D., and Brown, T.
The Indian Rapids Dam and the remains of the Fredenburgh Falls Dam were removed from the Saranac River during the Summer of 2024. These dam removals are part of an ongoing FERC relicensing effort on the Lower Saranac that includes restoration of historic Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon runs. This case study will discuss design and removal of the dams, and the collaborations that eventually led to the river restoration. A fish passage assessment and design are now proposed at Fredenburgh Falls, along with a fish ladder at the downstream Imperial Mills Dam to build on the progress made with the recent dam removals. Lessons learned will be shared from the two dam removal projects and work with partners that included Trout Unlimited, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Patriot Hydro, NY State Gas & Electric, and SLR Consulting.
About Roy Schiff
Coming Soon
About Doug Osborne
Doug is an Associate Water Resources Engineer with SLR International Corporation, specializing in flood mitigation and analysis, and restoration of rivers, floodplains, and habitat. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire in 2014 and an MS in Civil Engineering with a focus in Water Resources Engineering in 2016. Doug has been with SLR in Vermont for more than six years working with communities to become more resilient to flooding and restoring our rivers to function more naturally. He loves all things outdoors including backpacking, skiing, running, and canoeing with his dog Mabel.
About David Minkoff
David Minkoff is a Fish Biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Lake Champlain Field office in Essex Junction, Vermont. As a member of the USFWS Habitat Team, David’s position is focused on aquatic habitat restoration and fish passage. Central to this work is the development of partnerships with Federal, State, local and other NGO partners to identify, develop and implement dam removal and culvert replacement projects that enhance stream connectivity and water quality throughout the Lake Champlain basin. Prior to the habitat work, David conducted applied research with the USFWS in salmonid imprinting and homing, as part of ongoing efforts to restore populations of landlocked Atlantic salmon to Lake Champlain. David had a previous career as a theatre set designer. He loves skiing, biking, spending time with his family and corgi, and driving them all nuts by attempting to play ukulele and sing in-tune.