• Friday-What'sUP September 2 - 11:31 pm

Nate Alwine does a pretty good job of keeping us posted as to what's happening in the Norway/Iron Mountain location, especially when it comes to anything to do with water and rivers! Today's shots were taken around the Sturgeon River Dam area, where the local electric company has been removing a dam, in a process which seems to be spread over a few years. The first picture was actually taken in June 2003, to show us what the spot looks like with the water lowered five feet from its original level. The second shot provides a visual of just about the same spot, with the water lowered twenty-five feet and the final photo is what it looks like now, with the bone-dry bottom. Sure looks a bit different from the first view! Not knowing too much about the procedure, I'm hoping that someone else can chime in with whether this will be filled with water again in the future….how about it Nate? :->

Dont know about this project but in many places dams are removed to improve fish populations. One of the problems with the dams is the change in water temp,deeper the water the colder it is,many fish need warm river water to spawn.

The backwaters will not be refilled. This dam was built in the 1920's and no longer produced enough electricity to equal the cost of its maintenance. Originally the dam was 50' tall. By the end of the deconstruction process the river will be returned to its natural state. The sand you see my dad standing on was deposited over 80 years by slow moving water. It will be removed and in the end you will have a narrow granite gorge with 10' tall waterfalls, and a surprising amount of water for such a small river.

And as John mentioned, this should become an awesome fishing hole for trout!

lastly, here's a link to some pictures of the whole area. Notice the difference from where the sand has been removed/washed away to the area where there's still deposits.

https://pasty.com/pcam/albuu88

What a stark contrast to see this un-flooded scene, while in the next room the TV is showing New Orleans under water.

It is good to see it going back to orignal state, I agree it is much better for fishing and wildlife. It's good to see they have removed all remnits of the old dam. More back to nature

Another incredible thing about the dewatering of this section is that the lowered water has revealed sunken boats stuck in cliffs 10 feet above the river, and the remnants of old bridges that were built and used prior to the 1920's

Don't mess with mother nature!