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Adirondack Dams

Sacandaga River History: Piseco, Lake Pleasant Reservoirs

January 4, 2021 by Mike Prescott Leave a Comment

pamphlet cover for The Forest Preserve 5 Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks The Sacandaga River valley has been used as a transportation and communication corridor since before Europeans arrived. It was a native trail, a military road, and a proposed canal and railroad route. Today it’s home to Route 30.

The river is a provider of power and recreation, and a powerful force of nature. [Read more…] about Sacandaga River History: Piseco, Lake Pleasant Reservoirs

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Lake Pleasant, Piseco, Piseco Lake, Sacandaga River

Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

November 16, 2020 by Mike Prescott 3 Comments

Mike Prescott paddling One day as my wife and I and our dogs walked along River Road at Riparius on the Hudson River, my wife said to me in a folksy manner “just think all this water here, is on its way to New York City.”

It’s true the Hudson River has flowed out of the Adirondack Mountains for millennia, southward towards the Atlantic Ocean. And over the last two centuries or so there have been plans to dam the Upper Hudson for one reason or another. Most of those plans have dealt with using the water resources for some down state endeavor. [Read more…] about Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Environmental History, Glens Falls Feeder Canal, Hadley, Hudson River, Indian River, paddling, Political History, railroads, Schroon River, Verplanck Colvin, water quality

Dam History: The Proposed Oxbow Reservoir Project

October 7, 2020 by Mike Prescott Leave a Comment

Proposed-Oxbow-DamThe Raquette River, from Raquette Falls to the State Boat Launch on Tupper Lake, is one of the nicest stretches of flat-water anywhere in the Adirondacks. Paddling this river corridor under a clear cerulean blue sky, on a sunny autumn day with the riverbanks ablaze in orange and red, is exquisite. For me, though, the river’s history is as captivating as its natural beauty. [Read more…] about Dam History: The Proposed Oxbow Reservoir Project

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Axton Landing, Follensby Pond, Geography, Geology, Maps, Oxbow Lake, paddling, Raquette River, Stony Creek, The Wild Center, Tupper Lake

Dam History: The Proposed Tupper Lake Reservoir

October 4, 2020 by Mike Prescott Leave a Comment

Tupper-Flooded-Outlined-labels-429x800 I am often dwarfed by the vastness of the landforms which surround me. The glacial lake basin that forms part of the Raquette River Valley is one such formation. The old meandering Raquette River from Raquette Falls to Piercefield Falls twists and turns, almost comes back upon itself for several miles, as it flows towards its mouth on the St. Lawrence River.

At one point it flows into a lake area and makes a series of rather long graceful turns. The already slow moving water slows even more, and the current of the river is almost unnoticeable. Such is the glacial river basin that forms Simon Pond, Tupper Lake and Raquette Pond.  Here the particulate matter, which once came from the surrounding mountains, falls out of suspension.

The slowing of the river as it passes through these lakes, over centuries and centuries, over thousands and thousands of years, since the last glacier, allows for great deposits of earth (sand, mud and muck) to build up on their lake floors. [Read more…] about Dam History: The Proposed Tupper Lake Reservoir

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Tupper Lake

An Unnatural History of the Raquette River

August 27, 2020 by Mike Prescott 2 Comments

Seneca-Ray-Stoddard-photo-“the-Cut”-with-Simond-Pond-and-Mt.-Morris-1888-540x409 The Raquette River flows from its source at Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks, to the St. Lawrence River at Akewesasne.

East of Tupper Lake and just north of Simon Pond is a place called “The Cut.”

“The Cut” was channel dug to “straighten the river” so that logs could be floated (driven) straight into Simon Pond, thus avoiding a shallow and meandering section of the Raquette River known as Moody’s Flow. [Read more…] about An Unnatural History of the Raquette River

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Environmental History, Forestry, Logging, paddling, Political History, Raquette River, Tupper Lake

A Fish Barrier Dam Facelift in St. Regis Canoe Area

August 27, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Little Fish Pond barrier damThe Little Fish Pond barrier dam is the lowermost fish barrier dam protecting the waters of the Saint Regis Canoe Area from invasion by non-native species.

Fish barrier dams are considered an essential tool for the protection of native and restored fish communities from non-native species that could devastate the current native fish populations.

[Read more…] about A Fish Barrier Dam Facelift in St. Regis Canoe Area

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, DEC, fish, Fisheries, fishing, paddling, St Regis Canoe Area

DEC Plans To Shore-Up Saranac River’s Imperial Mills Dam

July 31, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Imperial DamNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of final plans for the Imperial Mills Dam on the Saranac River in Plattsburgh.

The plan shores-up the dam to bring it into compliance with dam safety regulations and adds a carry for paddlers and a fish ladder to provide for passage of landlocked Atlantic salmon. There have been calls to remove the dam entirely, including by Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the City of Plattsburgh and return the river to a more natural state and reduce the threat of flooding in the city.  DEC’s announcement said they met with Clinton County officials before finalizing the plan. [Read more…] about DEC Plans To Shore-Up Saranac River’s Imperial Mills Dam

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, DEC, development, fish, Fisheries, fishing, Industrial History, nature, Plattsburgh, Salmon, Saranac River, Wildlife

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