"Rethinking" the Rapidan Dam

[LuckyFish]

It seems conventional thinking on the effects of the dam on water quality are being put to the test. In the Mankato Free Press today there is an article on the dam titled "Rethinking" by Tim Krohn. Henry Quade a recently retired Minnesota State University Professor has been studying the dam since the early 1980's.He has come up with some new "revelations" on the affects of the dam on the river. He points out how nitrogen and phosphorus levels are increased when the dam is opened wide open during "peaking operations" (holding water back until needed for high demand energy use). According to Quade contaminants build up behind the dam as the water backs up then when it is released those contaminants are released. The contaminants contain high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, which harm macroinvertebrates which fish eat. It seems that the practice of "peaking" harms the water quality, but a "run-of-the-river" approach is far better. With the run-of-the-river approach the gates are left open all of the time, and contaminants aren't allowed to build up.

The issue of removing the dam is on the table again, but it isn't necessarily the best approach either. Quade says "If you really want to go back to nature, remember there were beaver dams all along the river. There were natural dams." Quade's opinion is of course only one mans opinion, but he has been studying the river and the dam since the early 1980,s. His study provides some food for thought on how much this dam affects the fishing downstream, thus how it affects us as fisherman. For more info on this go to http://mrbdc.mnsu.edu. This is interesting stuff to me because it affects my fishing.