Patapsco River Restoration Project Research

American Rivers has been working on restoring the Patapsco River through dam removal for more than a decade. Three dams have been removed so far: Union Dam (2009), Simkins Dam (2010), and Bloede Dam (2018). A significant investment has been made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support monitoring and historical documentation efforts on the Patapsco.  

The historical documentation for this project was completed by the National Park Service’s Heritage Documentation Programs. The biological monitoring (fish and critters) was completed by the Maryland Biological Stream Survey and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. The physical monitoring (sediment and water) was completed by Maryland Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey, and University of Maryland Baltimore County.  

Products, publications, and links to data repositories and presentations associated with this project can be found below. 

Historical Documentation 

Library of Congress: Bloede Dam, Spanning Patapsco River, Avalon, Baltimore County, MD 

Bloede Dam Fly-Through Animation 

Data Repositories 

Maryland Biological Stream Survey 

Coming soon 

Maryland Geological Survey 

Report coming soon 

Repeat photography station data: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/9224cea2f2a344e4ac5fbc9b40c32957  

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 

Early detection and recovery of river herring spawning habitat use in response to a mainstem dam removal (2023) 

University of Maryland Baltimore County  

Coming soon 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Gage Data: Patapsco River Near Catonsville, MD – 01589025  

Gage Data: Patapsco River Near Elkridge, MD – 01589035 

Gage Data: Patapsco River at Hollofield, MD – 01589000 

Publications 

Cashman, M., A. Gellis, E. Boyd, M. Collins, S. Anderson, B. McFarland, and A. Ryan. 2021. Channel response to a dam-removal sediment pulse captured at high-temporal resolution using routine gage data. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 46(6): 1145-1159. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5083  

Collins, M., M. Baker, M. Cashman, A. Miller, and S. Van Ryswick. 2024. Impounded sediment and dam removal: Erosion rates and proximal downstream fate. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms: 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5850  

Cui, Y., M. Collins, M. Andrews, G. Boardman, J. Wooster, M. Melchoir, and S. McClain. 2018. Comparing 1-D sediment transport modeling with field observations: Simkins Dam removal case study. International Journal of River Basin Management 17(2): 185-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2018.1508024  

Huang, C., H. Legett, L. Plough, R. Aguilar, C. Fitzgerald, B. Gregory, K. Heggie, B. Lee, K. Richie, W. Harbold, and M. Ogburn. 2023. Early detection and recovery of river herring spawning habitat use in response to a mainstem dam removal. PLoS ONE 18(5): e0284561. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284561  

Presentations 

Patapsco River Restoration: A Multi-Dam Removal Case Study (World Fisheries Congress, March 2024) 

Restoring the Patapsco River: Bloede Dam Removal (Patapsco Heritage Greenway’s Patapsco Days, March 2024) 

Other Information 

For more information about the Bloede Dam removal project, go here. For more information about the Patapsco River, go here. If you have any questions, please reach out to Jessie Thomas-Blate, Project Manager, at info@americanrivers.org.