skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump administration begins sweeping layoffs with probationary workers, warns of larger cuts to come; NYC music school teachers strike after union negotiations break down; Ohio advocates push for inclusive policies during Black History Month; Health experts recommend sunshine, socializing to cure 'winter blues.'

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Federal workers tasked with securing elections from foreign interference are placed on leave, parents' organizations reject dismantling Dept. of Education, and the Congressional Black Caucus presses discussions on slavery reparations.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation, and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

Removing Dams Brings More Shad to the Delaware

play audio
Play

Monday, July 13, 2020   

NEW HOPE, Pa. -- A dam removal project is having a positive impact on the Delaware River's ecosystem, including a boost to the population of migratory fish.

Removal of the Columbia dam on the Paulins Kill in New Jersey has given migrating shad and sea lamprey access to 20 miles of spawning waterways that had been inaccessible for a century.

Shad are especially important for fishing in the Delaware where there are shad festivals and fishing contests.

But Beth Styler Barry, director of river restoration for The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey, points out that people aren't the only ones who will benefit from increasing the number of fish in the river.

"More shad means more food for things like eagles, heron, bears, otter," she states. "It brings an additional source of nutrition to the entire ecosystem."

Removing the dam also made it possible to restore 32 acres of floodplain that had been covered by the water behind the dam.

Kent Smith, chief of the steering committee for the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership, says the dam removal project on the Paulins Kill is a good example of restoring what environmentalists call white water-to-blue water connectivity.

"You allow for natural tidal cycles," he explains. "Freshwater lenses can flow out over the surface of the estuaries and animals like American shad have the ability to move into their freshwater habitat to complete their life cycle."

Shad started returning to the area less than three weeks after dam removal was completed last year and this year breeding sea lampreys also have been observed.

Barry points out that the restoration brings a number of environmental benefits including washing away built-up sediment and improved water quality.

"The Delaware as a whole is continuing to improve as an ecosystem and, especially as climate changes, the cooler water will be more and more important not only for spawning and feeding but for the temperature refuge," she states.

Two more dams on the Paulins Kill will be removed over the next two years, giving migrating fish access to 45 miles of rivers for spawning and improved habitat for resident species.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
In 2023, the Biden administration ordered a Bakersfield oil company to remove old oil rigs from Carrizo Plain National Monument in Central California. (Bob Wick/BLM)

Environment

play sound

Groups that fight to protect public lands are criticizing the Trump administration's new review of all oil, gas and mining on public lands. National …


Social Issues

play sound

Minnesota is little less than a year away from launching its paid-leave law, but state lawmakers are debating whether to delay the start until 2027…

Social Issues

play sound

A New York City music school's faculty is back in the classroom after a weeklong strike. The Manhattan School of Music's Precollege Program faculty …


The nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves offers a mini-lesson for teachers about the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack, designed for grades 6-12. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A New York bill would require schools to teach about the Jan. 6 insurrection. The bill calls for all K-12 students to be taught about the event…

Health and Wellness

play sound

An Atlanta-based group is making sure more people have access to an unconventional but effective treatment for their moderate mental health challenges…

Social Issues

play sound

With cost at the forefront of prospective students' minds, higher education institutions in North Carolina are rethinking how to overcome one of the …

Social Issues

play sound

Kentucky's Appalachian counties are expanding efforts to help ensure kids are off to the right start educationally. Research shows attending a high-…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021