Milburnie Dam Mitigation Bank

The Milburnie Dam Mitigation Bank is an innovative project merging the well-documented ecological benefits of dam removal with the compensatory mitigation banking program. The Milburnie Dam was built in 1901 and was preceded by other dams at the location since 1760. By removing this dam in 2017, the project restored fish passage and natural river flow to seven miles of the Neuse River. The ecology of the river began repairing itself immediately after the dam was removed, and migratory fish were able to travel to historic spawning grounds not visited in centuries. Highly visible due to its proximity to the Raleigh Greenway, the project was the first mitigation bank approved nationwide using dam removal as an accredited method of compensatory mitigation and inspired two national regulatory documents from the EPA and USACE encouraging similar projects.