Power Dam on Pigg River isolated populations of Roanoke logperch
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service - Virginia Field Office, Power Dam
Power Dam on Pigg River isolated populations of Roanoke logperch
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service - Virginia Field Office, Power Dam
The American Shad Restoration Program was started in 1998 for the Roanoke River. Before construction of dams, American shad spawned as far upstream as Salem, Virginia. In the 250 miles of Roanoke River upstream of Kerr Reservoir, there are roughly 40 miles of suitable spawning habitat today.1
A hatchery-raised shad that was stocked in the river at Alta Vista succeeded in swimming to the Atlantic Ocean and returning in 2007 to the Virginia border, despite the barriers imposed by Kerr Reservoir, Lake Gaston and Roanoke Rapids Lake. Replacement of the Wasena Park Dam in 2009 and the Wiley Drive bridge in the city of Roanoke in 2010 opened up 35 miles of the Roanoke River and 155 miles of tributary streams to reproduction by anadromous fish, and also helped in the recovery of the endangered Roanoke logperch.2
The habitat of the Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) was impacted by the construction of Philpott Dam in 1952 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The dam flooded a stretch of the Smith River (a tributary of the Roanoke River), blocking natural movements of the fish and leading to genetic isolation of populations upstream/downstream of the barrier.
The Roanoke logperch was listed as an endangered species in 1989. Removal of Philpott Dam to facilitate recovery of the species is not realistic; the structure is essential for hydropower generation and flood control.
In 2013, the US Fish and Wildlife Service did fund removal of Veterans Memorial Park Dam on the Pigg River in Rocky Mount (Franklin County). The Federal agency was able to obtain local support for its habitat restoration project by highlighting the safety hazards of the dam, which was made obsolete in 1981 when Rocky Mount built a new water treatment plant.3
On the Pigg River, the removal of the dam in Rocky Mount provided improved habitat for the species, mitigating in part the damage to the species done by the Phillpott Dam on the separate Smith River. Similarly, removal of Power Dam on the Pigg River will also improve Roanoke logperch habitat.
Removal of dams on Pigg River - upstream of Smith Mountain Lake, as well as Kerr Reservoir, Lake Gaston and Roanoke Rapids - will provide very few benefits for anadromous species such as American shad. (The striped bass at Smith Mountain Lake are a land-locked population, stocked regularly by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries because natural spawning habitat is so limited.)
because Power Dam on Pigg River is upstream of Smith Mountain Lake, removal would provide benefits to local fish populations more than to anadromous species
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wetlands Mapper
1. Julianne E. Harris, Joseph E. Hightower, "Movement Patterns of American Shad Transported Upstream of Dams on the Roanoke River, North Carolina and Virginia," North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol.31 No.2 (2011), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02755947.2011.572806 (last checked April 15, 2014)
11. "Completed Projects," Virginia Ecological Services - US Fish and Wildlife Service, http://www.fws.gov/northeast/virginiafield/partners/PFW_projects2.html; "Restoring American Shad on the Roanoke River One Fish at a Time," N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission news release, February 27, 2008, http://www.fws.gov/raleigh/pdfs/sis/restoring_american_shad_roanoke_river.pdf (last checked April 15, 2014)
2. "Pigg River Dam removal nearly complete," Franklin News-Post< December 6, 2013, http://www.thefranklinnewspost.com/article.cfm?ID=26277 (last checked April 15, 2014)
3. "USFWS, others partnering to remove dam built for ice plant in Marion," Bristol Herald Courier, December 6, 2014, http://www.tricities.com/news/article_5bd538be-7dbf-11e4-a65e-3732c9f89e5b.html; "Crews begin project to remove Marion ice plant dam," Bristol Herald Courier, March 17, 2015, http://www.tricities.com/news/crews-begin-project-to-remove-marion-ice-plant-dam/article_55ae508a-cd1d-11e4-805b-13a49f27bfb3.html (last checked March 18, 2015)
Veterans Memorial Park Dam on Pigg River, before removal in 2013 to help restore Roanoke logperch
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service - Virginia Field Office, Power Dam