Women's Club Donates To Victims Resource Center

Ann Adams

Saturday, January 03, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 7A 





CONCERNS FOR THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER LAST WEEK, IT WAS ONE STEP FORWARD AND
TWO STEPS BACK. FIRST, THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL
RESOURCES (DCNR) AND THE RENDELL ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED THEY HAD FOUND $3.85
MILLION IN THE STATE BUDGET FOR A NEW FISH LADDER THAT WILL ALLOW SOME 500,000
AMERICAN SHAD AND OTHER FISH SPECIES PAST THE SUNBURY INFLATABLE DAM AND INTO
THE VAST UPPER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER WATERSHED. THE SAME WEEK, CIVIC LEADERS FROM
THE WILKES-BARRE REGION WERE HEADED TO WASHINGTON, D.C. TO LOBBY FOR FEDERAL
SUPPORT FOR TWO NEW INFLATABLE DAMS JUST UPSTREAM AT NANTICOKE AND
WILKES-BARRE. DCNR STATES THAT THE NEW SUNBURY FISH LADDER WILL OPEN UP AN
ESTIMATED 270 MILES OF SUSQUEHANNA RIVER FOR FISH MIGRATION. THAT IS, UNTIL
THEY BUMP INTO THE TWO NEW DAMS UPSTREAM. INFLATABLE DAMS HAVE BECOME ALL THE
RAGE IN PENNSYLVANIA THESE DAYS. AT LEAST FIVE MAJOR INFLATABLE DAMS PROJECTS
ARE CURRENTLY ON THE DRAWING BOARD STATEWIDE, WITH MORE PROJECTS IN THE WINGS.
BECAUSE OF THE ABILITY TO RAISE AND LOWER AN INFLATABLE DAM, THEY SEEM LIKE
WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS FOR COMMUNITIES WHO WANT CONTINUED USE OF DAMS FOR
CONSTRUCTION OF NEW DAMS WHILE MINIMIZING THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF THOSE
DAMS. IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE A COMPROMISE THAT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT'S
BECAUSE IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. THE SUNBURY FABRIDAM, BUILT ACROSS THE
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, IS ONE OF 200 INFLATABLE DAMS NATIONWIDE. THE ORIGINAL IDEA
BEHIND THE FABRIDAM WAS TO KEEP IT DEFLATED UNTIL AFTER THE AMERICAN SHAD
MIGRATION, WHICH USUALLY SUBSIDES IN MID TO LATE JUNE. UNFORTUNATELY, LOCAL
COMMERCIAL AND POLITICAL PRESSURES HAVE DEMANDED THAT THE DAM BE INFLATED
EARLIER. IT WAS INFLATED BY EARLY APRIL, BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE SHAD RUN.
AS A RESULT, FOR THE PAST 34 YEARS, THE SUNBURY INFLATABLE DAM HAS FAILED TO
MEET ITS ONE COMPROMISE OBJECTIVE FISH PASSAGE. NOW PENNSYLVANIA TAXPAYERS
ARE BEING ASKED TO PONY UP ANOTHER $3.85 MILLION BEYOND THE ORIGINAL $1.9
MILLION COST OF THE DAM TO PROVIDE FISH PASSAGE AT AN INFLATABLE DAM WHERE THE
ORIGINAL DESIGN WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE IT PROVIDED FISH PASSAGE IN THE FIRST
PLACE. WITHOUT AN ENFORCEABLE PROVISION REQUIRING DEFLATION DURING MIGRATORY
PERIODS, AN INFLATABLE DAM IS NO BETTER THAN A CEMENT DAM. AS A MAINTENANCE
HEADACHE, IT IS ACTUALLY WORSE. IN ITS FIRST 14 YEARS OF OPERATION, THE
SUNBURY FABRIDAM'S INDIVIDUAL AIR COMPARTMENTS, OR BAGS, WERE REPLACED 16
TIMES. SOME OF THE SEGMENTS OF THE RUBBER DAM BODIES WERE PATCHED MORE THAN 46
TIMES BEFORE THEY WERE REPLACED. ALL THIS CAN, AND DOES, GET VERY EXPENSIVE
($270,000 PER BAG). INFLATABLE DAMS HAVE BEEN DAMAGED OR RUPTURED BY VANDALS,
BEAVERS, BULLETS, LOGS, FLOATING DEBRIS, BLISTERING FROM THE SUN, AND EVEN
SPARKS FROM A CAMP FIRE. THERE ARE OTHER ISSUES, OF COURSE, BESIDES COST AND
ENGINEERING CONCERNS. DAMS HARM RIVERS AND RIVER FISH AND WILDLIFE, EVEN
INFLATABLE DAMS. THEY CREATE RESERVOIRS, WHICH GET HOTTER THAN FREE-FLOWING
RIVERS, AND BENEFIT SPECIES LIKE CARP AT THE EXPENSE OF SPORT FISH LIKE TROUT.
RAISING AND LOWERING RESERVOIR LEVELS DISRUPTS THE NATURAL CYCLES OF MANY
AQUATIC SPECIES THAT EVOLVED IN FREE-FLOWING STREAMS AND RIVERS, AND CAN CAUSE
MASSIVE EROSION AND SCOURING ALONG STREAM BANKS. IT'S TEMPTING TO LOOK FOR A
PANACEA, AND WITH MANY SPECIAL INTERESTS LINE UP TO PUSH BUILDING ARTIFICIAL
RESERVOIRS ON PENNSYLVANIA'S LARGEST AND MOST HISTORIC RIVERS, THE TEMPTATION
FOR A COMPROMISE IS IMMENSE. BUT INFLATABLE DAMS ARE NOT A WORTHY COMPROMISE
FOR OUR RIVERS. WE DON'T NEED DAMS, NOT EVEN INFLATABLE DAMS. WE NEED TO LET
THESE RIVERS RUN.Sara Nicholas &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 American Rivers, Mid-Atlantic Field Office &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Harrisburg &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dams Of All Types Pose Cost, Engineering, Wildlife