Columbia Lake dam Removal

[Bucksnbows]

42 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

I should also add - that removing this dam would increase the chances of walleyes and Muskies coming further up the P-Kill. (but hopefully not invasive flathead catfish, or snakeheads)

So far, the flatheads and snakeheads don't seem to like colder trout waters, so they have only been found in the mainstem Delaware River.  But both rivers - the D and the P - are full of non-native fish.  Smallmouth, largemouth, rainbows, browns, walleye, etc. are all introduced species.  Not one evolved in that ecosystem.  Some cause more problems for native fish than others, but that's the world we live in today when it comes to native fisheries.  

[Lunatic]

Wow a thread with all in agreement, DAMN with the Dam 

[MGHunter66]

Wow a thread with all in agreement, DAMN with the Dam:happywave: 

After what i have seen after removing a couple dams in the lower raritan i am all for dam removal


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[Kype]

46 minutes ago, maximus66 said:

After what i have seen after removing a couple dams in the lower raritan i am all for dam removal


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i agree. dams are not natural to the rivers. dams were simply built to do something. water power, or slow the water. back in the day they served a purpose. today, not so much. remove them all. 

[TDietz]

Kill them all!!! At least the ones in NJ. I've been lucky to fish some great bottom release tailwaters like the upper Delaware, Bighorn, Kootenai, South Platte,  and the trout fishing can be awesome 

Edited April 10, 2018 by TDietz

[Mallard1100]

Awesome news!

[Buck154]

Great info on the Dam removal BucksnBows  

[Bucksnbows]

As some noted, not all dams are evil or in need of removal.  Dams serve to supply us with drinking water and with flood control.  They create recreational lakes, and they can supply hydro power as the one at Columbia Lake did until recently.  But most of the dams being removed in NJ today are vestiges of times long gone such as grist mill dams, and their usefulness is often well over 100 years in their rearview mirror.  Columbia Lake dam is state owned, but was privately leased until recently.  It generated less than $30,000 in electricity each year, and with it needing to be relicensed soon (FERC license), the private lesee could easily have been forced into providing fish passage for the shad, river herring, eels, etc.  That would have easily cost well over $1 million with very little guarantee the fish ladder would work, especially for the shad.   Do the math - you have to sell 33 1/3 years worth of electricity at $30K/yr. to break even on that investment.  Doesn't take an MBA to know that is not a good return on investment....

My firm is currently working on 4 dam removals here in NJ, and we are not currently involved with the Columbia dam although I have been on that dam's task force put together by The Nature Conservancy.  

 

[madeinuk]

Nature Conservancy hired Beth Styler Barry away from the Musconetcong Watershed Association.  

Beth is a veteran at dam remover having removed at least 3 that I know of on the Musky. 

She is leading the charge on this so I have high hopes.

[Dave B.]

2 hours ago, madeinuk said:

Nature Conservancy hired Beth Styler Barry away from the Musconetcong Watershed Association.  

Beth is a veteran at dam remover having removed at least 3 that I know of on the Musky. 

She is leading the charge on this so I have high hopes.

 This dam removal is 'almost' a done deal. I'm very much looking forward to it's demise. That being said, the one I'm even more interested in is the Paulina dam owned by Blairstown Twp. Beth had given the town council a presentation on the benefits of dam removal quite some time ago and also joined many of the local politicians on a tour of the dam site. Her presentation was quite key in my humble opinion in convincing the council and mayor that removal of the dam is the right choice. I haven't heard any recent updates on the status of this project, so if anyone has any 'new' news I'd be most grateful for an update. Last I heard the Twp. was having some difficulty obtaining adequate funding to pursue the project.

[230jhp]

I was in Wawayanda the other day scouting for turkey hunting. I noticed that Kasmir pond is completely drained. I inquired at the park office and was told they removed the dam because there "was a problem" with it, whatever that means.

When some new young vegetation grows there it may well attract deer in the fall, that is, if there are any deer left in the park with all the coyote fawn predation.

Kasmir pond was a weird body of water anyway.  Again, once many years ago I was scouting and brought a fishing rod. I caught an enormous yellow perch (16"+) As a result I was psyched to ice fish there. When safe ice occurred a few months later I caught nothing and the shiners were dying almost immediately. Go figure.

[Bucksnbows]

9 hours ago, Dave B. said:

 This dam removal is 'almost' a done deal. I'm very much looking forward to it's demise. That being said, the one I'm even more interested in is the Paulina dam owned by Blairstown Twp. Beth had given the town council a presentation on the benefits of dam removal quite some time ago and also joined many of the local politicians on a tour of the dam site. Her presentation was quite key in my humble opinion in convincing the council and mayor that removal of the dam is the right choice. I haven't heard any recent updates on the status of this project, so if anyone has any 'new' news I'd be most grateful for an update. Last I heard the Twp. was having some difficulty obtaining adequate funding to pursue the project.

That is moving forward as well, but slower than Columbia Lake dam.  The dam removal tour we gave them was on the Musky so they could see and hear from locals the pros and cons of dam removal and they left convinced to remove.  American Rivers and Trout Unlimited (me) and NJDEP wrote a big grant that didn't receive funding in large part because Columbia Lake dam is still in place, and funders want to fund the lower dams first on a river system where anadromous fish and their habitats are being restored.  The NJ DEP is now lead and I am no longer involved in my new role unless they get to a point where we can help restore aquatic habitat there.   

[Dave B.]

58 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

That is moving forward as well, but slower than Columbia Lake dam.  The dam removal tour we gave them was on the Musky so they could see and hear from locals the pros and cons of dam removal and they left convinced to remove.  American Rivers and Trout Unlimited (me) and NJDEP wrote a big grant that didn't receive funding in large part because Columbia Lake dam is still in place, and funders want to fund the lower dams first on a river system where anadromous fish and their habitats are being restored.  The NJ DEP is now lead and I am no longer involved in my new role unless they get to a point where we can help restore aquatic habitat there.   

 Thanks for the update Brian, I appreciate it. I would hope to see your company become involved in the post removal restoration. Between the amount of experience it would bring to the project combined with my penchant for preferring to see local NJ companies getting the contracts for 'our' work and adding in the benefit of a fairly new NJ company getting more work right here at home, it would just be a good situation all around IMHO.

[Integracingsr]

Does anyone have an update on this?  Did they begin the draw down this week?

[Bucksnbows]

1 minute ago, Integracingsr said:

Does anyone have an update on this?  Did they begin the draw down this week?

Yes, began on the 4th I believe.  

Naysayers of dam removals will say things like, "all that is left will be a mud pit".  That is true, but only for a matter of weeks.  Here's a perfect example.  This is the former Beisler Lake on upper Spruce Run Creek, a dam my firm is in the process of removing.

 December 2017 immediately after water lowering and fish capture (and transfer) and that former lake bed today: