With the economies of repair versus removal, it's not out of the question that the Milwaukee River could be essentially free-flowing someday, revitalizing the river, its fish and quite possibly the communities lining its banks. And it's a scene that will be replayed across Wisconsin in the near future, since the Dairy State is among the nation's leaders in the removal of dams. As was the case on the Milwaukee River, most Wisconsin dams were originally built to create power for industries. According to the Wisconsin River Alliance, the nation's first hydroelectric dam was erected in Appleton in 1882 to provide electricity for a streetcar line. Today there are some 3,500 dams statewide.
Water can eat under and around a dam.
Periodic flooding will push water over the top, putting more stress on the dam. A study on the removal of over 30 small dams in Wisconsin, conducted by UW-Madison's Department of Urban and Regional Planning, found that removal usually made the most sense financially. That's because repairing or replacing a dam usually costs three to five time more than removal. Even with the money spent on river improvement, planting and the creation of the park, the total bill was still only one-third of the cost of the replacement dam. Ecologically speaking, dam removal is a benefit, too.