The beginning of the end began Friday for aquatic barriers in the Bushkill Creek that were first built in 1793.
“What this involves is the removal of the first three dams along the Bushkill,” said Kristie Fach of Wildlands Conservancy.
The first dam is at the trailhead of the Karl Stirner trailhead, on Lafayette College’s campus. In the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, the dams harnessed water to power Easton’s mills.
Lafayette Professor of Environmental Geosciences Dru Germanoski calls the dams anachronisms of the past and without them water quality greatly improves, as do safety and flooding risks. He also says it’s good news for anglers, there’s a lot more fish, as they can move up and down the creek freely. Freshwater American mussels, which clean and filter creek water, also have key access up and down the waterway.
“You see here a stream that’s basically regraded itself, there’s flow through a riffle up here. So the water is getting oxygenated by mixing with the air,” he said.
“Restoring the natural stream flow brings all the other parts of the stream together that have been disconnected for many years,” Fach added.
Fach says the $2 million restoration is 10 years in the making, with 20 partners and five funding sources.
The end result is something that hasn’t happened in more than 200 years.
“We’re going to be restoring fish passage and fresh water mussels from the Atlantic Ocean to the Delaware all the way into the Bushkill Creek. It’s a very, very big, exciting day,” she said on Friday.
Two of the dams will be removed this summer, the third next year.
“I feel good about it, because I want to see this stream get to be itself to function in the natural world,” he said.