Computer Modeling Smoothes a Dam Hard Job

From Wired Science:

OJAI, California -- Civil engineers planning the demolition of the 60-year-old Matilija Dam on the Ventura River are enjoying an unprecedented preview of where 163 million gallons of pent up water will flow, thanks to sophisticated new computer modeling techniques now being used for a series of dam removal projects planned throughout the United States. "Years ago we thought, we'll just take the dams out and see what happens," says Rod Wittler of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. "We're learning how to think it through. We haven't taken any large, large dams down and that's why we're so dependent on computer modeling to tell us how to make this work." Dam removal plans have proliferated in recent years, as evidence mounts that many dams are not only obsolete, but have hindered or blocked natural processes, including bringing sand to beaches and allowing fish to reproduce. Plans to remove the Matilija Dam have been in the works since the late 1990s, but planners have struggled with the best method of demolishing the structure without damaging life and property downstream.

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