By Rebecca Hilbert, External Affairs, The Nature Conservancy, New Jersey Field Office
The New Jersey Chapter of the Nature Conservancy has made it part of our mission to advance dam removals throughout the state, a vital strategy to the goal of restoring our rivers, balancing our ecosystems, and protecting our communities.
The Delaware River is the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi, but the same cannot be said for its key tributaries, which are blocked by 1,400 dams, including hundreds in New Jersey. Most of these dams have outlived their usefulness and have become hazardous, degrading water quality and disconnecting access to important spawning habitat for migratory fish. By improving the conditions of these tributaries and creeks and removing these obstacles, we only strengthen the Delaware River itself, along with providing better habitat for its wildlife and prioritizing the safety of its people. Maintenance and repair of an aging dam is costly, and in many cases, removal is less expensive in the long run and is always the more ecologically beneficial option.
These aging structures are drowning hazards for people and are more likely to fail catastrophically under the stresses of the increase of climate change-related storms and flooding that our state is seeing. TNC is working in New Jersey to remove key dams along the Paulins Kill and Pequest rivers, removals that will benefit fish, wildlife and people.
Paulina Dam
The Paulina Dam is the fourth dam to be removed on the Paulins Kill. It is located about 10 miles upstream from the mouth of the Delaware River and the site of the former Columbia Dam. Removal of the more than 200-foot-long, 13-foot-high Paulina Dam is important to meet our ecologic goals of opening as much of the Paulins Kill as possible. Taken together, the four dam removals will open about 20 miles of mainstem and an additional 25 miles of tributaries as habitat for migratory fish including American shad, resident fish and important native species including brook trout. Additionally, removal of the Paulina Dam eliminates risks associated with this Significant Hazard dam in poor condition.
Statewide Dam Removal Partnership
TNC continues to lead the Statewide Dam Removal Partnership (SDRP) to accelerate the pace of dam removals in NJ. In our role as lead, we have begun to develop messaging for key state audiences that highlights dam removal as an effective resilience strategy, while building the capacity for those that are interested in doing this work.
With growing interest in dam removal from dam owners, including the state, counties, and municipalities, and with an increase in targeted federal funding, TNC understands that we need to increase the number of people with the skills to tackle all phases of these complex restoration projects. In March, forty-five people attended a second two-day Dam Removal Project Manager Training program. Attendees represented state and federal agencies, counties, municipalities, consultants and nonprofit organizations. Funded by TNC-NJ and the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund, the content was presented by American Rivers, TNC and invited speakers.
The SDRP Policy Committee is continuing to brainstorm potential legislation, funding opportunities and regulatory changes to streamline and support dam removals in the state. We celebrated CDRW adopting Dam Removals as a priority so that we may better collaborate with the other three basin states to understand which practices, policies and enabling conditions we can share to remove as many dams from the watershed as possible. We welcome interested members!
The Paulins Kill
The Paulins Kill is an important tributary to the Delaware River, the longest free-flowing river on the East Coast. A key strategy to improve migratory fish populations in the Delaware River is to restore connectivity and water quality in its tributaries. We have been making excellent progress towards our goals and have shifted our efforts to take out the final dam in a series of four removals on the Paulins Kill. Elimination of the Remnant Dam (2018), Columbia Dam (2019) and the County Line Dam (2022) has resulted in 35 miles of restored stream habitat, and the reconnection of the uppermost reach of our Paulins Kill-wide project. Together with the removal of the Paulina Dam (2024), this project will result in 45 miles of reconnected mainstem and tributaries and improved habitat where migratory fish were formerly excluded.
Check out this video of the Columbia Dam Removal!