Little Falls Dam, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1959 across the Potomac River and located near the middle of the George Washington Parkway, currently blocks anadromous fish such as the American shad and herring from moving upstream to spawn. Despite a vertical slot cut near the center of the dam at the time it was built, migratory fish were unable to make use of it. Operation of the slot was abandoned in 1964 due to high maintenance costs.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt joined Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, Gov. Parris Glendening and Congresswoman Connie Morella, all of Maryland, Brig. Gen. Stephen Rhodes of the U.S. Army Corps of Engneers and others, in praising the Little Falls project, which Babbitt called "this extraordinary cooperative effort.Sarbanes and Rhodes singled out the Fish and Wildlife Service in their remarks for the agencys efforts on behalf of the fishway project.
The Little Falls Fishway was designated a high priority project by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in 1988. With support from Sarbanes, an intergovernmental task group was formed in 1992 to help plan and obtain financing for a new fishway at Little Falls Dam. The task group, led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is part of the Chesapeake Bay Programs Fish Passage Workgroup.
Dams built on most of the major rivers in Virginia turned the shad
