American Rivers: Increasing Community and Ecological resilience by Removing a Patapsco River Fish Barrier

After years of hard work by American Rivers and its project partners, the Bloede Dam in Maryland’s Patapsco River was successfully removed in 2018, restoring 52.5 miles of the river’s natural flow and more than 65 miles of native fish spawning habitat. Removing the dam also strengthened community resilience, improved public safety, and facilitated increased sediment transport to marshes and beaches along the Chesapeake Bay. Using a combination of demonstration projects, predictive modeling, and adaptive management, the project team secured permits from the state. Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 2013, the project received an award of $2,480,000 with a matching amount of $5,677,024.