For much of the 20th century, the United States built thousands of large dams and other water projects to meet the nation’s growing need for water, food, flood risk reduction, hydropower, and navigation. Since their construction, however, very few public dam operations have been reviewed and updated to meet current needs. And because dams stabilize river levels across the seasons, they can set off cascading effects that negatively impact plant, fish, and animal species and the diverse array of benefits they provide to people.
By modernizing the operations and infrastructure of dams and other water projects, there is an opportunity to recapture the incredible social, economic, and environmental benefits our rivers and waterways provide. And that’s just what The Nature Conservancy in Texas is doing in the Big Cypress Bayou region of East Texas, where they’ve been involved in efforts to conserve Caddo Lake since the 1990s.
This Texas treasure is renowned for its recreational and economic benefits—visitors from all over the world flock to Caddo each year to paddle and fish along its tree-lined waterways. However, as with so many of our river systems around the country, upstream dam operations have disrupted the natural flow that is critical to Caddo Lake and the surrounding ecosystem.
To meet these challenges head-on, The Nature Conservancy in Texas collaborating with the Army Corps of Engineers and local partners in East Texas to rethink dam operations and infrastructure, restore river flows, and ensure Caddo Lake and its scenic waterways remain healthy and thriving well into the future.