_ENRready.jpg "head shot of Karina Dailey")
Karina Dailey understands the devastating impacts of the historic Vermont floods of 2023, as well as everyone else. Record amounts of rain washed away roads and bridges and produced catastrophic landslides and mudslides that caused more than a billion dollars in damage. The director of science and restoration for the Vermont Natural Resources Council recalls failed and broken dams directly impacting communities. Despite the cost, Dailey calls the floods a “silver lining for people to connect the dots and see the impact the floods had on communities.”
By 2023, the removal of more than 80 dams in Vermont represents more demolitions per capita than any other state, says environmental nonprofit American Rivers, with the goal of preventing future flooding and restoring the watershed’s ecological resilience. Vermont also passed its 2024 Flood Safety Act, the first law in the nation that gives the state jurisdiction over 23,000 miles of streams and rivers, when new flood hazard area rules and other protections go into effect on January 1, 2028.
Dailey, 47, who wrote parts of the Flood Safety Act, spent a year testifying before state lawmakers about the legislation, as well as three years testifying about watershed science. It also runs the council’s dam removal programme, which helps other conservation groups identify dams for removal. He plans to help take down at least 10 more dams this year.
A state record nine dams were removed last year at a cost of nearly $4 million, including the Youngs Brook Dam in West Rutland. Dailey oversaw its removal as project manager, while SLR Consulting served as the on-site engineer and designer. Removing the 250-foot-long by 40-foot-high dam concrete and excess soil required advance planning and phased project implementation to control water and any potential sediment movement.
Dailey brings “energy and enthusiasm to develop Vermont’s dam removal projects and increase knowledge in the discipline,” said Roy Shiff, SLR water resources engineer and principal scientist. “Their collaborative approach has accelerated the pace of removal of Vermont’s obsolete and deteriorating dams, leading to improved public safety, water quality and habitat.”
“Dailey’s deep experience, long-time commitment to the many values of restoration, and enthusiastic spirit motivate all who have the privilege of working with her,” added Corrie Miller, Aquatic Passage Restoration Specialist in the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
Dailey chairs the Vermont Dam Task Force, where he worked with Mike Kline, who spearheaded the Flood Safety Act after retiring from a 30-year career at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.
Kline said dams can disrupt natural sediment transport, leading to more sediment deposits in some places and more erosion in others. Removing dams with reservoirs allows for the creation of floodplains that can store floodwaters and reduce river erosion during flood events, he noted.
Continuing to advance the work, Dailey said he will continue to lobby and testify this year “for additional clean water protections.” He is currently working to move Vermont’s restoration bill through the State House.
Related to the Flood Safety Act, the proposed bill aims to improve the regulatory review process “to implement freshwater restoration projects at the scale necessary to meet the urgency of climate change and flood risk in Vermont,” Dailey said.
Legislation is also on the state House agenda this year for parts of the Flood Safety Act implemented last year, according to Dailey. But the timeline for that action faces constant delays because of limited state agency capacity and political will, he said. Despite the challenges, Dailey enjoys seeing the results of dam removal. “Seeing a free-flowing river carrying sediment and nutrients and watching the immediate response of fish and wildlife is extremely rewarding,” he said.
