Study Looks At Altering Lehigh River Dams

It's called the "Lehigh River Fish Passage Improvement Feasbility Study."

That's kind of a mouthful of a title, but the idea behind it is simple: How do we get more fish into the river?

One possible answer could be to alter or remove two dams along the Lehigh: the Lehigh Dam, where the river meets the Delaware in Easton, and the Chain Dam, near .

But at a meeting Thursday at , the people behind the study stressed that such a project only exists on paper so far. The group has met with local officials, and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

"No one's agreed to anything beyond that. No one’s agreed to removing a dam or pumping water into a canal or anything like that," said Leroy Young of the state Fish and Boat Commission. "This will take years."

Changing or removing the dams has a number of problems, officials said in a presentation Thursday.

If the dams were completely removed, that would affect sewer lines in the river. The Easton Sewer Authority told the authors of the study that it would cost $1 million to replace those lines, although that figure is a very loose estimate.

"And they service a huge area," said Nate Hoffman, a consultant with KCI, which conducted the study. "Easton, Palmer Townshp, it’s a giant area."

Beyond that, changes to the dams could impact bridges over the river, whether a full or "partial removal" was involved, because of the erosion that would take place.

The study has federal backing from both the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Superfund program, the Express-Times reported Wednesday. The paper notes that any decisions on the dams will be up to their owners: the city of Easton and the DCNR.

Young said the goal here is to "rethink the whole approach" to to the Lehigh River, to the point where 500,000 fish were passing the Easton Dam.

"We're not there yet," Young said.