June is Rivers Month in Pennsylvania. All this month we’ll be highlighting projects that benefit the Commonwealth’s 86,000 miles of rivers and streams.
In northeast Pennsylvania, Wildlands Conservancy has coordinated the removal of five dams on the Bushkill Creek with funding assistance from Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Rivers Conservation and Development grants.
These grants focus on projects that improve Pennsylvania waterways or enhance public access for recreation.
Restoration of the Bushkill Creek included dam removals, streambank stabilization, instream habitat, and riparian buffer plantings. Three of the five dams removed were in the City of Easton, Northampton County.
The project has improved outdoor recreation by removing safety hazards for people fishing and boating on the Bushkill. It also improved habitat in this cold-water fishery by addressing impairments and removing obstacles to fish migration.
Trout travel up the Bushkill from the Delaware River to reproduce. Until recently, the multiple dams impeded that movement. With these dam removals, fish and other aquatic life can once again move up and downstream freely. The removals also help add oxygen to the water and keep the water cooler by reducing ponding in the summer.
