Removal of dams on Bushkill Creek

[Millsertime]

Is the is above or below where the quarry is? Speaking about the quarry whose pumps turn off from power outages a few times a year and make the stream nearly dry....I do think there is some kind of diesel generator effort underway though which is good news.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

I have watched multiple trout and suckers swim up that dam in higher water conditions. That dam is the least troublesome on that whole creek.

Interesting. I have def seen them try in the fall when they start getting silly.

I am more interested in how those doing the work are going to handle what is downstream of that dam if it's on the list.

 

[Bamboozle]

Is the is above or below where the quarry is? Speaking about the quarry whose pumps turn off from power outages a few times a year and make the stream nearly dry....I do think there is some kind of diesel generator effort underway though which is good news.

The dam being removed is almost at the mouth of the Bushkill and I THINK it is the first dam upstream.

Bottom line, it is WAY below the quarry.

 

[JeffK]

The one above 13th St is the fourth (soon to be third I guess) from the mouth. Lots of dams in Easton. I used to fish at the mouth when more of the dam to Getters Island was still there making a plunge pool. One of those spots where anything that swims in the Delaware shows up now and again. That area used to be a popular spot to catch snapping turtles. I don't know if anyone does that anymore, but snapper soup was more common in my youth.

The quarries are close to Nazareth and the area by the 3rd St dam doesn't get dewatered completely, but the quarries don't help. On the flip side to pumps stopping, draining a quarry to restart operations was an issue as well since the effluent was milky and left a nasty coating of limestone dust on everything. Many of the quarries drained through Shoeneck Ck which entered the Bushkill in Palmer Township.

 

[Bamboozle]

The one above 13th St is the fourth (soon to be third I guess) from the mouth...

I'm confused or I am misunderstanding you; the article says the dam being removed in the photo is the small dam above 3rd Street, not 13th Street...

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Third street would be near the mouth. I muddied the waters not Jeff K by mentioning the dam above 13th street, which was the 4th from the mouth, now 3rd. The one above 13th, which is in the special regs section, is the one that I think will need the most planning and remediation after.

When is it better to just breach them, I wonder?

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

That is great news.
Now if they can remove the shopping carts and other urban waste that will also really help!

I thought the shopping carts were stream improvement devices, kind of a poor man's gabion placement.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

That's all fine, IF you end up with good trout holding water, i.e. depth and cover. If you don't have good pool habitat, the trout population will be low.

Does anyone have more photos of the stream with the dam in place? And if it's already been removed, does anyone have post-removal photos?

Those things are usually part of a larger plan, over several years and many partners. I'd be surprised if Forks of the Delaware TU was not involved in some part of this project, especially the aftercare that is needed (trees, shrubs, boulder placement, etc.

 

[Bamboozle]

Another news story:

Bushkill Creek set to flow freely into the Delaware River, thanks to number of dams being removed

The beginning of the end began Friday for aquatic barriers in the Bushkill Creek that were first built in 1793.

www.wfmz.com

 

[troutbert]

Those things are usually part of a larger plan, over several years and many partners. I'd be surprised if Forks of the Delaware TU was not involved in some part of this project, especially the aftercare that is needed (trees, shrubs, boulder placement, etc.

How is the trout habitat at the Little Lehigh dam removal sites? That should give you an indication of how things will go here.

Is the trout habitat better, worse, or about the same?

 

[Vaughn]

A few pics from today. The demolition has continued, not much dam left by this afternoon.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

How is the trout habitat at the Little Lehigh dam removal sites? That should give you an indication of how things will go here.

Is the trout habitat better, worse, or about the same?

I can't speak to those sites. Haven't been there. I just go on the assumption that dam removal is as every bit disruptive as dam erection. In removal, there are a lot of areas of concern and the good ones that I am familiar with all addressed pre-removal concern factors and post-removal stream ecology. I don't think permits would be issued without these being addressed. There is even one removal I am aware of that had a contingency that was activated to address the stranding of birds once the pond behind the dam disappeared.