After twenty years of debate over whether it should be demolished, the Savage Rapids Dam, built in 1921 on the Rogue River in Oregon, is finally being removed. The dam was initially built to irrigate the Grants Pass Irrigation District during the era of pioneers, ranchers, farmers, mining and logging. In 1968, Congress recognized the Rogue as one of eight original rivers to be protected according to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Beginning in 1988, conservation groups such as WaterWatch began advocating for the dam’s removal because of its obsolete technology and the harm it causes to the river’s salmon and steelhead fish.