by Kristen Leahy HARDWICK – As conversations about Jackson Dam continue, a few questions tend to come up repeatedly. That is not surprising. When a piece of infrastructure has been part of a landscape for generations, people naturally think about what might change and what might be lost. One of[Read More…]
From the Watershed
What happens when a dam comes down?
by Kristen Leahy HARDWICK – Over the past few weeks I’ve written about Jackson Dam, the sediment that has accumulated behind it, and the reality that rivers and infrastructure do not remain frozen in time. One of the questions that naturally follows is simple: what happens when a dam is[Read More…]
The sediment story above and below Jackson Dam
HARDWICK – Last week’s discussion looked at what the recent study found at Jackson Dam. This week, it’s worth stepping back and looking more closely at how rivers move sediment and why that matters. When people think about a dam, they usually think about water. But an important part of[Read More…]
Jackson Dam Study reveals river system complexity
HARDWICK – One detail in the Jackson Dam study stayed with me after I read it. When the SLR engineers began trying to measure how much sediment had accumulated behind the dam, they pushed a fourteen-foot probe rod straight down into the lakebed. In several locations they still did not[Read More…]
Waiting has a cost
HARDWICK – In a small town like Hardwick, it’s easy to put off big decisions. Projects are expensive. The timing never feels quite right. When something is still working, at least most of the time, it can be hard to justify making a change. Concern about the cost of projects[Read More…]
From the Watershed: Beavers cause problems; they also solve them
Hardwick doesn’t have the luxury of abstract conversations about water. We’ve watched it come through our commercial core, into our homes, and across our roads, more than once, and more recently than anyone would like. We’re investing real money and real time trying to reduce that risk. That forces us[Read More…]
