The City of Springfield, Ohio went through this process over the past few years for Buck Creek, which flows through downtown Springfield. I think this project might be more similar to that of the James River project in Virginia (vs. the larger rivers and dams on the Klamath or Rogue in Oregon). Springfield added an interesting piece in that they turned the dam locations into whitewater kayaking features. I am not an engineer and do not know the issues, but can tell you what i have observed to have changed on Buck Creek since the removal of the first several dams: the river is cleaner b/c it does not have contaminated silt held back by the dams. With the combination of cleaner water, cooler water temps in the summer, and water that is better oxygenated, the the fishing is actually better.

Below is a link about the Springfield project. Also on the left of this web site are links to a number of other completed projects that lists info and results of the dam removals.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/ContentAp...0/Default.aspx