National Low Head Dam Inventory is Live!

American Whitewater worked intently on two cycles of the biannual Water Resources Development Act to ensure a National Low Head Dam Inventory would be created and the inventory is now live! As many paddlers know, low head dams create incredibly dangerous hydraulics and extreme hazards for folks looking to enjoy rivers. Over the past 50 years, low-head dams have claimed more than 1,400 lives. American Whitewater’s database of whitewater accidents and fatalities, maintained since 1972, documents that 10% of fatalities nationwide are a result of individuals getting caught in a low-head dam hydraulic. We’ve had no central source of where thousands of these structures exist, until now because of the work of American Whitewater and our partners.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has released the inventory for public use. In addition to the inventory, the Army Corps website contains great information about the dangers of low head dams and even discusses the need to modify and remove these structures. This new inventory is integral to better public awareness of the dangers and common occurrence that is a low head dam. Because of the inventory, identified dams are now eligible for grants and loans from USACE to remove or make navigable. 

We are grateful to see the fruit of our labor at https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/ and thankful to the Army Corps and National Low Head Dam Task force for all the work put into this important inventory. Countless engineers, advocates, agency staff, and dam safety officers around the country have identified the need to pay attention to low head dams. If you are interested in learning more about collaborative teams working all around the country to remove low head dams and other aquatic barriers, please contact Hattie Johnson at hattie@americanwhitewater.org.

Image credit: Kent Ford