9 a.m., Aug. 13, 2012--The White Clay Creek a designated National
Wild and Scenic River near Newark, Del. will benefit from an $85,606
grant awarded to the University of Delaware through a national
partnership between American Rivers and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
American Rivers selected the White Clay Creek restoration project
in Delaware as one of just six projects from more than 200 grant
applications submitted nationwide. Projects in California, Delaware,
Massachusetts, and Oregon will receive restoration grants. Delawares
project is titled White Clay Creek Dam No. 1 Removal.
Removing White Clay Creeks Dam No. 1, a historic colonial mill
timber-crib dam built around 1777 near present-day Delaware Park, will
reopen 3.5 miles and 42 acres of spawning habitat along the waterway in
New Castle County for passage of anadromous fish (American shad, hickory
shad, and herring) for the first time in over two centuries. It will
also improve public safety, as the dam is in disrepair and in danger of
failing.
As the first dam-removal project for fish passage in the state of
Delaware, this is the first and most critical step in a five-year plan
to remove an additional six upstream dams, which will reopen fish
passage for 14 miles from tidewater inland to the Piedmont at the
Delaware-Pennsylvania state line.
Principal investigator Gerald Kauffman, director of the Water Resources Agency, a unit of the School of Public Policy and Administrations Institute for Public Administration (IPA), will oversee research and field work during dam removal.
The American Rivers grant will fund a multi-disciplinary UD research
team, which includes internships for undergraduate and graduate students
in IPA and the Center for Historic Architecture and Design, both of
which are research centers in the School of Public Policy and
Administration (College of Arts and Sciences), Department of Geologic
Sciences (College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment), and Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering (College of Engineering).
Key UD partners in this project include the U.S. National Park
Service, White Clay Creek Wild and Scenic Watershed Management
Committee, Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, and Delaware Park,
Inc.
The White Clay Creek watershed is one of only a few unspoiled and
ecologically functioning river systems in the metropolitan corridor
between Philadelphia and Baltimore. About 180,000 people about 20
percent of Delawares population receive drinking water from the
watershed, which spans 107 square miles from southeast Pennsylvania to
northwest Delaware. In 2000 it became first interstate watershed to be
designated a National Wild and Scenic River and protected in its
entirety. UD is one of just two universities in the U.S. that has a
National Wild and Scenic River flowing though campus.
About American Rivers
Since 1973, American Rivers, the leading organization working to
protect and restore the nations rivers and streams, has fought to
preserve these connections by helping protect and restore more than
150,000 miles of rivers through advocacy efforts, on-the-ground
projects, and the annual release of the Americas Most Endangered Rivers
list.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., American Rivers has offices across
the country and more than 100,000 supporters, members, and volunteers
nationwide.
Originally published by UDaily.
