The Times sent readers back to the rivers.

WASHINGTON — Thursday’s New York Times briefing set the press-pass ruling next to a quieter American story: the undamming of the rivers. The paper’s account, first published in May, is the one the morning newsletter pointed to again. American Rivers counted more than 100 dams removed in 30 states in 2025, reconnecting about 4,900 miles of waterway, including 156 miles of a branch of the Juniata.

Serena McClain, who runs the group’s removal program, told The Times that the dams are not getting younger, and that extreme weather is knocking them down whether anyone plans for it. Free-flowing water, the paper reported, runs cooler and clearer and gives migratory fish a way through.

The money is the Thursday part. The 2021 infrastructure law set aside $3 billion for repair and removal. Congress later pulled back $364 million. Under the Trump administration, The Times reported, many of the federal grants have stalled. The Science desk files the miles, and the stall.