A feasibility study exploring removal of the Daniels Dam is well underway, increasing the likelihood of an entirely free-flowing main stem of the Patapsco River.
American Rivers is directing the study under a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Engineering analysis began in April 2025. The target is to have a report by the end of January for Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, the dam's owner in whose hands any decisions about its future will lie.
Three major Patapsco dams have been removed so far—the Union (2009-2011), Simkins (2010-2011), and Bloede (2018-2019) dams. The Liberty Dam on the North Branch of the river will remain; it creates the Liberty Reservoir that supplies Baltimore with water.
Daniels is about two river miles upstream of Old Frederick Road, where paddlers put in to run the popular whitewater sections of the Patapsco. The dam, built in 1833 to provide power for mills long since gone, is 15 feet high and 450 feet long. It would require costly repairs if it were to be kept. As recounted in a Nov. 19 webinar sponsored by American Rivers and Hispanic Access, the goals supported by removal of the dam would be reconnecting the river corridor for migratory fish (particularly eels, shad, and river herring), restoring habitat for fish and wildlife, restoring natural river functions, reducing water temperatures, increasing dissolved oxygen levels, and improving public safety. On that last score, the dam has been a magnet for unsafe play, despite stern DNR warnings; injuries, but thankfully not deaths, have been reported.
Might removal offer whitewater benefits? Paddlers were excited to experience a new stretch of rapids 2,000 feet long after removal of the Bloede Dam, but in contrast the section in which Daniels lies has only modest gradient—about 10 feet per mile for the first two miles above the dam. Still, it depends on how the post-removal channel would be engineered. Sometimes whitewater parks have been created in conjunction with dam removals; this is happening, for example, in Cumberland (see "Cumberland Whitewater Park Project Moves Forward," Cruiser, July-August 2024). At least this upper section—through which the river now ambles along below Daniels—would be faster-flowing.
Jesse Thomas-Blate, river restoration director for American Rivers, says the arguments for removal are strong, given the recent history of removing dams on the Patapsco and the financial/economic and public safety considerations, in addition to the potential environmental benefits.
Ideas about the Daniels Dam area and the potential removal can be submitted through a survey on the DNR website or via email to American Rivers (see the links information below). Respondents can ask to be on an email list for project updates.
—Larry Lempert
For More Information
Daniels Dam Feasibility Study, DNR information page (includes links to fill out a survey or send input via email)
American Rivers background pages
• Patapsco River
• Patapsco restoration project research
• "What We've Learned from Monitoring the Patapsco River Post-Dam Removal," by Jessie Thomas-Blate, American Rivers (May 29, 2025)
Nov. 19 webinar presentation