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Dam Busters 2026
Restoring Aquatic Habitat Through Dam Removal: Water Quality and Macroinvertebrates
See below for resources, links, tips, and a video recording. Webinar originally held January 7, 2026.
Monatiquot River Dam Removal Restoration Project, 2025
Learn about the effects of dam removal on restoring aquatic habitat (water quality and macroinvertebrates) from Dr. Allison Roy, Unit Leader with the U.S. Geological Survey's Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Presented by: Dr. Allison Roy, USGS/UMass Amherst
Recording
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Additional Resources
Abbott, K., A. Roy, and K. Nislow. 2022. Restoring Aquatic Habitats Through Dam Removal. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-148-2022, Washington, D. C. https://doi.org/10.3996/css92498424
Abbott K.M., P.A. Zaidel, A.H. Roy, K.M. Houle, and K.H. Nislow. 2022. Investigating impacts of small dams and dam removal on dissolved
oxygen in streams. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0277647. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277647
Abbott, K.A. and Roy, A.H., 2022, Stream Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen Responses to Small Dams and Dam Removal in
Massachusetts: U.S. Geological Survey data release. https://doi.org/10.5066/P9L2ATHV
Abbott, K.M. 2023. River restoration through dam removal: Examining ecological responses to small dam removals across
Massachusetts. PhD dissertation, Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/publication/b21e1519-832e-48f0-872d-04bc0507b409
Abbott, K. M., A. H. Roy, F. J. Magilligan, K. H. Nislow, and R. M. Quiñones. 2024. Incorporating climate change into restoration decisions:
perspectives from dam removal practitioners. Ecology and Society 29(3):21. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15182-290321
Abbott, K.M, A.H. Roy, K.H. Nislow, R.M. Quiñones, and E. Rogers. In Revision. Shifting thermal regimes after small dam removals and
implications for climate change. Elementa. (available upon request)
Zaidel, P. 2018. Impacts of small, surface-release dams on stream temperature and dissolved oxygen in Massachusetts. Master's Thesis.
University of Massachusetts Amherst. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/680
Zaidel, P.A., A.H. Roy, K.M. Houle, B. Lambert, B.H. Letcher, K.H. Nislow, and C. Smith. 2020. Impacts of small dams on stream
temperature. Ecological Indicators. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106878
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