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Torpedo the Dams By Bill Leavens, MWA President One of the principal goals of your Association is removing the obsolete dams that impede water flow, water quality and fish passage on the Musconetcong.. At this writing, all permit requirements have been satisfied, funding is in place, and a contractor has been selected for removing the Gruendyke Mill and Seber dams in Hackettstown. We are waiting for low water conditions to proceed with the work. But we have bigger plans in store. The largest dam on the river provided power and process make up water for the Warren Glen dam in Holland Township. This 30-foot high monster blocks the river in the Musconetcong Gorge between Pohatcong (Warren County) and Holland Township (Hunterdon.) It is half owned by NJDEP Green Acres, which owns preserved property adjacent to the paper mill, and IPP Corporation that presently owns the mill facility. Preliminary discussions with Trout lJnlimited, NJDEP Fish and Wi1dlife, and the Army Corps of Engineers arc underway to determine how this dam can be breached - and how can that work be funded. The Warren Glen dam is the greatest impediment to water quality improvement on the 1ower Musconetcong and will be the most difficult to remove due to its size and the amount of sediment entrained behind it. MWA is a1so undertaking a study to remove two broken dams near the Delaware confluence and two other small dams in Finesville and Hughesville, downstream from Warren Glen. And we've only just started. There are another fifteen or so after these are gone. Full speed ahead! |