Risks too great to keep Marianna dam intact
Water rushing over a low-head dam creates a beautiful – even mesmerizing – waterfall that attracts swimmers and fishermen alike. The turbulent water churning around forms a perfect pool for fishermen to cast their lines.
But dams are also dangerous, and sometimes even deadly.
Because of these grave concerns, Marianna Borough Council agreed last month to have the low-head dam along Ten Mile Creek removed. American Rivers, one of the nation’s top river conservation organizations, has offered to perform the removal work at no charge to the municipality while also restoring the streambank to its natural condition.
This decision has caused a range of emotions from people who have fished in that area for years. The backlash is understandable, and while it’s disappointing for local sportsmen who are losing their popular fishing hole, it is a much-needed step to make the creek safer.
According to a 2015 Brigham Young University study, Pennsylvania led the nation with 71 drownings at low-head dams since the 1950s. At least four people have drowned at the Marianna dam since the 1940s, although local officials think that figure could be even higher.
The underwater recirculating forces beneath a dam can draw a person in and the unrelenting water won’t let them go.
“If you get too close to the dam, the water pushes you under, throws you out and then sucks you back in and you keep churning,” Marianna Council President Wesley Silva said.
Dams can also cause significant damage to the environment and nearby infrastructure. Fish swimming upstream to spawn are blocked by the massive concrete wall, while erosion is washing out the base of a hillside supporting Main Street, causing damage to the state roadway.
This particular dam, once used as a way to collect water for the local water authority, has outlived its practical purpose. The water plant is no longer operational, meaning there is no public entity left to care for the concrete dam, which is in disrepair.
What would happen if that concrete wall gives out?
While there is obvious sadness and even anger over losing this dam, the community should feel fortunate an organization such as American Rivers is willing to work closely with the locals to offer them new recreation opportunities.
“We just don’t go in there and rip out a dam and walk away,” said Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, who heads the charitable organization’s Pittsburgh district office.
Instead, the organization is going to create fishing habitats and pools for sportsmen. Meanwhile, kayakers and canoeists will be able to paddle unimpeded down Ten Mile Creek.
The organization removed a dam on the Dunkard Creek near Brave, improving flooding conditions, and did the same to the Ellsworth No. 2 dam a year later, creating a wetlands in that area.
Pennsylvania has about 5,000 low-head dams remaining across the state, and 285 have been removed over the past two decades. It’s time to add the Marianna dam to that list.