Fatal accidents at low-head dams have earned them the nickname “drowning machines.” They generate a significant amount of power, even at low water levels. That can make it disorienting for people who mistakenly get trapped in their currents, and it can be hard to find a way out.

Thousands of low-head dams are found in rivers, ponds and creeks across the country, usually standing several feet tall.

Researchers at Brigham Young University created a nationwide database tracking low-head dams in 2023. They’ve catalogued around 13,000 dams, but researchers say there are likely thousands more.

State and local agencies have spearheaded efforts in recent years to remove low-head dams in Kentucky, Tennessee and the surrounding region, but it’s often difficult to figure out who actually owns them. Many of the dams are more than a century old and have outlived their owners — and their purpose.

Kentucky officials say dam removal is ‘in our best interest’

Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife say the agency owns several dams, but even they aren’t sure how many they’re actually in possession of. The deeds transferring ownership can date back to the early 1900s.

Last month, the department excavated a low-head dam out of Elkhorn Creek, which runs through a public park in Georgetown, a suburb just north of Lexington.

Commissioner Rich Storm said removing the dam has been on the agency’s radar for several years.

“Early in my tenure, I found out that we owned this particular dam, which is unusual, and the safety concern, coupled with public input [and] public meetings, we determined that it was in our best interest to remove this,” he said.

The Georgetown dam caused two reported drownings in the past four years.

“I would say probably 90% of my drownings that I have worked in my career have been involved with low-head dams, ranging from here at Great Crossing to Frankfort, the area I cover,” Fish and Wildlife Officer Matthew Hartley said.

Environmentalists say such dams also limit the health of streams. Michael Washburn of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance said removing low-head dams could boost biodiversity.

“We’ll see an increased diversity of fish coming in here that are more desirable than some of the fish that hang out around dams,” Washburn said. “Fish, aquatic wildlife, really like to have open and free-flowing waters, and this impedes them.”

Commissioner Storm said these removals haven’t been without opposition. Many of these dams have been around for decades, endearing themselves to local residents.

“I think people oftentimes have difficulty with the change,” Storm said. “It’s been this way for a number of years, perhaps 100-plus years.”

Communities in Tennessee push back

The small town of Calhoun in East Tennessee has been fighting since 2023 to reverse the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decision to demolish a low-head dam that residents say has long been a fixture of their community. The 60-foot-wide Saulpaw Mill Dam was originally built in the 1860s to power an accompanying mill for grinding corn into meal. The TVA acquired the dam soon after its establishment in the 1930s and demolished the grain mill in 1940.

Since then, the dam has served as a popular fishing spot, according to Calhoun City Manager Joe Bryan.

“It’s beautiful,” Bryan said. “And a lot of people travel up the river in boats just to come up here and see it, especially in the summer.”

After publishing a draft environmental assessment that labeled the Saulpaw Mill Dam a “hazard” that serves no “practical purpose” and called for its removal, the TVA rapidly received scathing feedback from locals. Petitions circulated and public meetings were held. The townspeople were supported by Bryan and his government. He said the locals simply don’t want to lose a piece of their own personal history.

“There was a lot of disappointment, and there was a lot of resentment,” Bryan said. “That’s the reason we got so many signatures on the petitions to let them know that this is a historic site … and it’s technically caused no problems. There’s never been a documented death at this mill site.”

Despite the intense pushback, plans remained in place to demolish the dam until August, when the TVA announced they were scrapping the project due to budget concerns amid an ongoing federal shakeup.

That’s because these projects can be expensive. About 75 miles north of Calhoun, outside the town of Walland, the Army Corps of Engineers proposed a $14 million project to remove Peery’s Mill Dam on the Little River.

The steep price tag put off some locals, particularly the descendants of the dam’s original owners. Alicia Peery is the great-granddaughter of Ira Peery, one of the original owners of the dam. She said she doesn’t understand why the Army Corps of Engineers is still willing to foot the bill for the demolition of the dam in the face of major federal spending cuts in recent months.

“I really was shocked, just because of all the cutbacks we’ve been having,” Peery said. “It’s a really special place, and people just gravitate towards it. I drove by yesterday and it was packed with cars.”

The federal government’s case for the removal of the Peery family’s dam is that it poses a significant danger to locals. Four deaths have been linked to the dam in recent years, including the drowning of a 13-year-old girl in 2019.

Though the Peery family said they will miss their dam, they understand people’s concerns about the dangers it poses. Clyde Peery, Alicia’s father, said he has fond memories of growing up around the family mill.

“I would love to have the dam stay there, but with some work done to lessen the effects of the hydraulics,” he said. “It’s such a focal point for the community up there as a recreational area. And aesthetically, it’s just a beautiful area.”

Still, the Army Corps of Engineers is moving forward with the project. The agency said it’s secured federal funding for the removal of Peery’s Mill Dam and another low-head dam farther upstream and is currently working with the state to finalize plans.

“[The Army Corps of Engineers] looks forward to working with our local and state partners on this effort to improve aquatic habitat and reduce risks to public safety,” spokesperson Lee Roberts said in a statement.

When local governments oppose dam removal

A Southern Indiana mayor has been fighting the removal of a low-head dam for more than four years, including through state and local legal challenges.

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan said he wants to protect a dam in Silver Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River, from being torn down by a contractor for a local conservancy.

He said the more-than-100-year old structure is an asset to the city as a historical remnant of a park built in the early 1900s, and he has concerns about recreation and wildlife if it’s removed.

“During my tenure, I have fought for exceptional greenspaces and for the protection of our natural resources,” Gahan said in a statement earlier this month. “We know how important these assets are for the environment, as well as the physical, mental, and economic health of our community.”

River Heritage Conservancy is overseeing plans for the more-than-400-acre Origin Park in the area. Its contractor was granted a permit in 2021 to remove the dam.

Gahan has fought against the removal ever since. The Indiana Court of Appeals recently ruled against two of the city’s legal challenges.

River Heritage says it wants to remove the dam to make recreational paddling safer along Silver Creek and to restore its natural flow. But they’ve said they don’t have any plans to use the creek commercially.

In May 2024, 14-year-old A.J. Edwards Jr. drowned while playing at the dam. Two months later, the mayor had rocks dumped in front of it to stop the hydraulic current — an action state and federal agencies say was done without proper permitting. Lawsuits are pending against the city for both matters.

These legal actions have raised the question of who actually owns the dam. It’s a problem shared by officials throughout the region, making it unclear who has the right to remove or alter low-head dams.

This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU Public Radio in Kentucky and NPR.

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