How Can a River be Transformed in Just 3 Minutes?

For the first time in over 350 years, Whitford Brook flows free!

Save the Sound, supported generously by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Patagonia, and the Long Island Sound Futures Fund (a grant program of National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Study) championed and administered the effort to remove Hyde Pond dam in Mystic, CT.

After more than a year of design and permitting, the dam removal was completed in less than a month. The entire dam removal process was captured on camera and transformed into a time lapse video. Watch it here!

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This 200-foot long dam was located on Whitford Brook, a tributary of the Mystic River.

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The dam restricted fish passage for many local species including the American eel which is a candidate under the Endangered Species Act.
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Dam failure during a storm would cause major flooding for the downstream community.

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Before dam removal.
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After dam removal.

 

Watch the entire process unfold in this time lapse video!

Photos/Video Credit: Shed Light Productions

We’re not done yet! We need your help to finish the job on Saturday, May 7 by planting native species along the restored riverbank of Whitford Brook in Mystic.

And another unique volunteer opportunity you won’t want to miss! Who says adults can’t play in the mud!? Join us at Pond Lily Nature Preserve–the site of our other current dam removal project–in New Haven on Saturday, April 9 to help us plant and see the process become complete.

Email restoration@savethesound.org to RVSP, and visit our calendar to learn more about these and all our events.

 

This project is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 through the Department of the Interior. For areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investing $167 million in more than 70 projects to clean up refuges, restore and strengthen coastal marshes and beaches, and connect waterways for better fish passage and flood protection. These investments help safeguard communities against increasingly intense storms predicted with a changing climate. To learn more about other U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hurricane Sandy projects, visit: fws.gov/hurricane/sandy/.

Additional support for the Hyde Pond project is provided by the Long Island Sound Futures Fund.

Read more in our press release.

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Nov. 17 and Dec. 3
Dana Dam was removed in Fall 2023 to reconnect Norwalk River habitats. Come to the restoration site and learn about dam removal design, implementation, and ecosystem benefits.

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