Valley Creek Dam Partially Collapsed

[Dave_W]

geebee wrote:

it might be wise when assessing the impact of a free flowing Valley Creek to talk to the TU folks down there for their thoughts - anecdotally i see no shortage of small to 10" browns but i've only been visiting it for four years or so.

VFTU has been aware of this for a long time (the potential migration of stocked trout) and will probably chime in if the dam is breached.

Based on what we know, I think opening or removing this dam is unlikely as the structure is historic and the damage is minor.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

afishinado wrote:
While the removal of dams is looked upon with favor by most, one must look at each case individually to evaluate the benefit or downside of it's removal. There is no lake formed behind the dam warming the water. What benefit would come from this?

The downside of removing the dam near the mouth where Valley Creek meets the Schuylkill River is it prevents nearly all the fish that inhabit the River to enter the stream.

It never ceases to amaze me how many wild trout are present in Valley Creek and how great it is to have a Class A wild trout stream in such an urban area. Fish there or just walk along the banks and see how amazing it is to have so few other species besides trout reside there great numbers. The Schuylkill River is home for chubs, suckers, carp, various panfish, smallmouth bass, channel cats, flatheads, and other warmwater fish. I don't believe there's any benefit to remove the dam and open up the stream to the Schuylkill River.

Will respectfully disagree. The cold water environment will keep the warmwater fish at bay, There are many CWF streams emptying in to the Schuylkill without being over run by warm water fish. I offer Sixpenny Creek as Exhibit A. Also, many years ago Don Douple showed a video at our TU chapter of very large brown trout trying to scale that dam in the fall. Some succeeded. Many more would succeed if the dam were breached. Guess where those big browns came from?

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Dave_W wrote:
The question of whether to allow fish passage through this dam is not a new controversy (as Mike well knows). I think the NPS may have a policy regarding historic structures preservation that may be applicable here. VFTU should also continue be part of the discussion and I'd be interested in their opinion.

While I'm not a big fan of legacy low-heads...personally, I'm agnostic on this particular issue. I'm not a VC regular and am inclined to be neutral on whether to breach or repair this structure.
Will be interesting to see what happens - perhaps nothing.

I painted this scene a few years ago. Beautiful spot.....

My response to the park policy is that the thousands of years before the dam was constructed is historical, too, populated by a different people. History does not cover a narrow gap of time occupied by those of European history. My first impulse would be to consult the Lenape.

BTW, very nice painting work.