Fishable Indiana Streams for Hoosiers has worked with J.L. Waters and Company to bring the documentary to the Buskirk-Chumley.
Gary Moody, director of FISH, is petitioning the secretary of the interior and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to have the Williams Dam removed completely.
Williams Dam, located in Williams, Ind., was constructed in 1912 and was actively used as a hydropower generator until 1958, when it was shut down and became state property and a major fishing platform.
Since 1982, a variety of companies have tried to gain rights to repower the dam.
In 2008, Free Flow Power, an energy company based in Boston, applied for a license to restart Williams Dam with very little publicity.
As of press time, FFP was not available for comment.
“They want to refurbish the dam at the cost of several million dollars and reinstall hydrogenating equipment,” Moody said. “I became aware of (the FFP application) when I happened to read it in a newsletter.”
He said despite the fact Williams Dam is owned by the people of Indiana, very little outreach occurred until after an agreement was reached and very few people even know the dam exists.
He said his work is generally devoted to working with watersheds and ensuring the quality of water and surrounding ecosystems in Indiana.
Moody said Williams Dam has become what he calls a “deadbeat dam,” or a dam that is currently not serving any purpose.
The dam is currently blocking the passage of almost all species from one set of waterways to another, a process called habitat fragmentation, he said.
“What they’re actually doing is trapping fish,” said Emily Hodapp, assistant manager at J.L. Waters.
Once Moody found out about FFP’s application, he said he felt it was necessary to educate people about the environmental threat deadbeat dams pose, leading to the showing of “DamNation” this weekend.
“I quickly realized that scrutiny was needed,” he said.
The movie is about the environmental benefits of removing dams, specifically detailing the removal of multiple dams in Oregon and the positive responses the ecosystems, specifically with salmon native to the area, had to their removal, he said.
“It’s working exactly like they anticipated,” Moody said, noting that the process detailed in the documentary was recently completed.
Hodapp said the documentary will show both the pros and cons of dams.
“It just shows cases (of) the ecological effects dams have had,” she said, explaining that, while dams may benefit people, they can often do serious damage to ecosystems.
Moody said he hopes the viewing will raise awareness of the issue of deadbeat and low head dams, sometimes referred to as “drowning machines” because of the amount of swimmers and boaters who lose their lives to them.
Moody said hosting the film in Bloomington is wonderful because the people of Bloomington, particularly at IU, are very open to learning about these kinds of environmental impacts and ?issues.
“It’s just thrilling to have the movie (in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater),” he said.
He also said the location is important because Williams Dam is very close to Bloomington, located in Lawrence County southwest of the city.
“Not many people know that Williams Dam is even there,” he said.
Hodapp said the event, which has been sponsored in part by J.L. Waters because they sell Patagonia clothing, will cost $5 per ticket.
Patagonia helped with the filming of “DamNation,” which is why Moody reached out to them as sponsors.
People such as Moody and ecologist Kevin Tungesvick will talk to the audience about the environmental impact of dams in Indiana, he said.
“Petitions will be at the screening,” Moody said, in the hopes people will be moved by the documentary to want to close Williams Dam.
Moody said the people who made the movie appear to have done so for very altruistic reasons and for community viewings ?specifically.
“They’re not trying to make money off this movie,” he said, adding they spent more money making the movie than they will likely earn by showing it.
Hodapp said she and J.L. Waters are very supportive of the event.
“We love having free ?rivers,” she said.
