In the fall of 2025 the Jockey Hollow Dam in Barre was successfully removed by Friends of the Winooski River. The dam once obstructed the Steven’s Branch and was located just below a cascade of falls in Rotary Park. The impoundment was once used as water supply when it was originally built in the early 1900s, and in the 1930s-40s the plunge pool below the dam was home to a popular public swimming hole. No longer in use, the dam was a great candidate for removal. While the removal of the dam has some aquatic organism passage benefits, these benefits were limited due to the cascades upstream. The primary benefit of this dam removal was to improve water quality by restoring the natural sediment transport and reducing phosphorous contributions to the Winooski River. Additionally, this project improves flood resiliency for the town of Barre by reconnecting the floodplain and lowering water levels during high flow events. 

Removal of the 10-foot-high, 90-foot-long concrete dam began in the summer of 2025 and the project was completed in September. Approximately 1,600 cubic yards of sediment were removed from behind the dam. The stream channel restoration used onsite stream bed materials, and the trees that were removed during construction were added back to the landscape as strategic woody additions to create habitat structure on the floodplain. A future tree planting is planned now that the river and the floodplain are restored. This project is part of a larger initiative that will remove two other dams from the Steven’s Branch in order to open up the river and improve water quality and aquatic organism passage for the watershed. 

Thank you to Friends of the Winooski River, SLR Consulting, the Town of Barre, Hilltop Construction, Lake Champlain Basin Program, and Watersheds United for making this project possible.