At 7:30 p.m. local time on May 19, the dam body of the Edenville Dam in Michigan partially collapsed due to continuous rainfall.
The spilled water overflowed from the top of the Sanford Dam downstream at 8:49 p.m. that night, and the Structure of the Sanford Dam was not damaged. Both dams have been in operation since 1925 and have been in service for 95 years.
The dam was originally owned by Boyce Hydro. From 2018 onwards, the dam no longer has the task of generating electricity, and its regulatory responsibility has been placed on the Michigan state government.
Hydropower companies found that maintaining the existing water level was dangerous to the dam body, so they released water to lower the water level. But the state's inspector general sued the hydropower company three weeks ago on the grounds that the lowering water level violated the rights of freshwater mussels in the dam's upstream water system and threatened their survival. Hydropower companies are required to restore water levels immediately and ensure that no more water will be released in the future.
And then...... Then it rained, and then the embankment broke.
There are about 2,600 dams in Michigan, many of which were built during the last economic crisis. Within the next five years, 80% of dams will have a service life of more than 50 years.
It is good to be environmentally conscious, and there is nothing wrong with protecting animal rights, but it is not difficult to measure the weight of floods compared with the slight inconvenience of animals.
Moreover, in New Jersey, not far from Michigan, invasive species have also been found.
In the state's town of Franklin, scientists have found ponds with many more huge shells, the largest being the size of a rugby ball, and it looks like a bust and a titan compared to the mussels in the sea that locals often eat.
This shellfish, known as the dorsal hornless mussel, also known as the vegetable mussel or the river mussel, is a very common freshwater shellfish in China. Meat can be eaten, shells can be medicated, and can also be used to culture pearls. Today I went for a walk by the river in the park and fished several in the river.
There are fewer natural enemies in the river mussels, mainly some wading birds and game birds, such as ducks, geese, herons, and cranes. Everyone has heard the idiom 'the clams fight each other, the fisherman wins'.
After the river mussels grow to the palm of their hands, these birds have little to do. Sea otters also don't run into fresh water to knock them.
River mussels like to flow water, mainly eat algae and microorganisms in the water, adult river mussels can swallow 40 liters of water a day.
When the river mussel arrived in the Americas, it successfully encroached on the ecological niche of the local shellfish, and even occupied the living space of many fish.
So the prosecutor general's decision, in addition to bursting the embankment, probably caused the spread of invasive species.
Michigan and New Jersey are both lakes and are connected by water systems. Of michigan's shellfish, it is doubtful how much native shellfish are left.
Many invasive species have borrowed water in this way.
I wish the American people an early society to learn the comprehensive utilization of river mussels.
Source: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Detroit Liberty, CNN