text: Controversial dam removals founded on value conflicts | EurekAlert! Science News
  IMAGE: This shows removal of the Kuba dam on the Nätra river in March 2007. view more
  Credit: Håkon Söderberg
  Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden conclude that public opposition to dam removal is not based on knowledge deficiency, as is sometimes argued in dam removal science. It is instead a case of different understandings and valuation of the environment and the functions it provides. The findings are now published in the journal Ecology and Society.
  "We wanted to understand how the proponents and opponents of dam removal think about the function of two contrasting ecosystems - an existing dam with a pond and a potential running stream without the pond. The local people who fight to have a dam remain in place have often been dismissed as unknowledgeable," says Dolly Jørgensen, environmental historian at the Department of Ecology and Environmental Science.
  Jørgensen, D. and B. Malm Renöfält. 2013. Damned If You Do, Dammed If You Don't: Debates on Dam Removal in the Swedish Media. Ecology and Society 18 (1): 18. [online] URL: