CambridgeToday received the following letter to the editor from reader Alan Van Norman in response to our story Riverside Dam rebuild will begin in 2025 with a budget of $19 million.
The low head dams on the Speed and Grand rivers are a big part of "settler heritage" in our region. But they are well past their best before date.
They were installed with little knowledge of and no regard for their environmental impacts. They serve no purpose in our electrified world and in fact create a hazard that did not previously exist.
The low head dams create impoundments that lead to higher water temperatures, accumulation of silt and reduced oxygenation of the water, none of which are good for the natural aquatic environment.
Almost everything we do in the modern world comes with an environmental price that is effectively just a loan. Removing the Speed River dam is a small payback opportunity.
Let the river run free. It will be better for everyone and every living thing in the river.
Alan Van Norman
