During 2018, we studied the ecological conditions (instream habitat, riparian conditions, and benthic macroinvertebrates) surrounding three potential barrier removal sites and continued monitoring at two post-removal sites in the Hudson Estuary watershed. This year’s data represents the third year of pre-removal monitoring at Brown’s Pond dam (Otterkill), Maiden Lane Dam (Furnace Brook), and Annandale Dam (Sawkill). We collected Year-3 of post-removal data on the Troy Gate (Wynantskill) and Year-2 post-removal data on Shapp Pond Dam (E. Branch Wappingers Creek). Our existing data to date demonstrates that small dam removal efforts lead to rapid recovery of impacted stream segments. We observed significant improvements in stream substrate and habitat quality, macroinvertebrate community composition, and water quality designations. Comparatively, the same ecological metrics at our non-removed sites did not differ significantly across years of pre-removal data collection.