6/10/16 - Hughesville Dam Removal Slated To Start June 16

[NJDFW]

6/10/16 - Hughesville Dam Removal Slated To Start June 16

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[Rusty]

Hey Bucksnbows,

 

How many more dams need to be removed?  I think I counted 3 south of route 78.  

[Bucksnbows]

Hey Bucksnbows,

 

How many more dams need to be removed?  I think I counted 3 south of route 78.  

So far, we've removed 3 remnant dams on the lower river at Riegelsville, the one (formerly) intact dam at Finesville, and both the Gruendyke Mill dam and Seber Road dams up near Hackettstown (6 in total with Hughesville being 7 soon).  Right now, the Hughesville Mill dam is the 1st blockage after the removals of the 3 at Riegelsville and the 1 at Finesville.  Upstream is the massive 38' tall Warren Glen Mill dam which is in the works by the two owners (NJ Division of F&W and International Process Plants, co-owners).  That is the dam in the Musky Gorge seldom seen because of its location.  Above that is the Bloomsbury Mill dam which the Army Corps has been working on for nearly 8 years now (As we say about the Army Corps:  "They're slow, but they're expensive!")

 

Above that is a dam/county road at Asbury which will likely only be notched as the dam and the bridge over the river are connected.  The county rebuilt this bridge in 1984 and added 3 feet of concrete to the height of the old stone dam and have been in fights with NJ DEP Dam Safety ever since.  Those dam removals are all designed to return anadromous fish passage as well as to cool down the river, restore proper sediment transportation, and provide native brook trout and other non-anadromous fish passage and habitat.  

 

Above the Asbury Mill dam is the one on Penwell Road in Mansfield which is owned by Penwell Mills and is not slated for removal.  Above that is one behind the Wells Fargo and self storage units off Newburg Road that the bank owns (but doesn't know that).  Then it is dam free up to the Saxton Falls dam, and above that are the dams that form Lake Musconetcong and Lake Hopatcong, both owned by NJ State Parks and Forestry.  That's the entire 42 mile long river.  There are other dams on tributaries as well.  But those are a story for another day.

Edited June 12, 2016 by Bucksnbows
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[Kype]

dam removals      . they are not natural and all should be removed. its a shame any went up in the first place. lets get the dam at duke island removed. 

[Bucksnbows]

dam removals      . they are not natural and all should be removed. its a shame any went up in the first place. lets get the dam at duke island removed. 

 

Actually, we needed them all at one time or another.  The only real mistake is that so many old mill dams were covered in concrete in the early 1900s after concrete was invented right after the mills themselves became obsolete for the most part.  But the Hughesville Mill dam and the Warren Glen Mill dam were both fully operational until only a few years ago, having powered the two paper mills on the lower Musky.  We just didn't have the foresight to see the damage to our fisheries and hence our food sources as a result of waiting so long to begin removing the older, completely obsolete dams that haven't been in use since electricity came about.

 

Now for an anecdotal story:  The first dam built in North America was by the Pilgrims on Town Creek at Plymouth Rock to build an early grist mill.  Almost immediately, the Pilgrims noticed a lack of striped bass, river herring, eels, and other fish in the stream above the dam.....

 

That dam was removed several years ago, proving there are no dams "too historic" to remove. 

[Kype]

yeah dams were built for a reason, i get it, to use water as power. this day in age, we have so many other resources that we do not need water to power something (at least for the south branch, musky, main stem raritan, and any other water source in NJ). every dam in NJ should be removed, yes CLINTON DAM TOO. they are eye sores, and do nothing for the fisheries except stop fish from traveling  up stream. i can see why some fisherman may like dams, and why others may like dams (for swimming purposes) but they are not needed anywhere here. instead of casting off a concrete wall for fish, maybe get your feet wet and explore what a river should be? try different runs and currents. i see to many people just dropping a line off a dam because they think fish are there. and YES they are there, its because they are trying to travel upstream and are blocked by a concrete wall. i was very happy see the robert street dam removed in 2012 and then the nevius street dam removed in 2013. its a start but lets keep it going. maybe one day the rivers will be the way they are suppose to be. 

[Axiom]

I tend to agree... Dams have long since out lived their original purpose.. With a few exceptions... Get rid of'um..