NJ Statewide Dam Removal Partnership: Creating a Community of Practice to Accelerate Dam Removals
Beth Styler Barry
The Nature Conservancy, New Jersey
Chester, NJ
This presentation will demonstrate how bringing practitioners together can help accelerate the pace of dam removals. In New Jersey, The Nature Conservancy helped create the Statewide Dam Removal Partnership (SDRP), a collaboration of nonprofits and state and federal agencies that seeks to advance the removal of antiquated, dangerous, or ecologically detrimental dams, eventually, lose utility through reservoir sedimentation or become structurally unsound. Dam removal is, in many circumstances, a viable alternative to costly repairs and ongoing maintenance, and dam removal creates multiple ecological benefits.
The SDRP is focused on building technical capacity and addressing other enabling conditions to accelerate dam removals for the resulting ecological and community benefits. The SDRP acts as a forum to capture and share knowledge, identify solutions to common problems, and create a process to collect and evaluate best practices. Its members meet quarterly to discuss beneficial dam removal projects and exchange information regarding regulatory and policy issues, funding opportunities, and the practical considerations of dam removal. The SDRP provides a mentoring network for practitioners new to the field, and it also provides information to the public about how dams and dam removal may affect their communities and their lives.
The SDRP’s education and training efforts will be described during the presentation. These efforts have been well-received with over 5,000 visitors to the SDRP’s website and over 250 participants in online Information Sessions, the majority of whom have attended multiple webinars. As a result of this collaboration, participants in the SDRP identified 15 dams where there is an interest in removal, and we paired government agencies and NGOs with local governments and private owners of dams where removal is being investigated. This presentation will outline the steps taken by the SDRP to create the community of practice and how it is working to build technical capacity and accelerate dam removals in the state. We believe that components of this effort could be duplicated in other statewide or regional partnerships.
About Beth Styler Barry
Beth Styler Barry, Director of Freshwater Programs at The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey has 20 years’ experience in river restoration, water quality monitoring, community outreach, and project management. At The Nature Conservancy, Beth leads development and implementation of major on-the-ground stream restoration projects, including dam removals, from permit application to working with engineers, contractors, and partners for successful project completion. Beth leads the NJ Statewide Dam Removal Partnership. Beth previously worked as executive director of the Musconetcong Watershed Association. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Montclair State University.
