04-04-2007, 06:11 PM
[center][cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]As a youngster I use to fish above and below this dam. Haven't been back since it was demolished. In the fall it was an absolutely beautiful place to fish. Fall colors and all.[/size][/green][/font] ![[Image: gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=23289;]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=23289;)
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[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The Cuddebackville Dam is located in the hamlet of Cuddebackville, New York, and 235 acres of the Neversink watershed are located upstream from the dam. The Cuddebackville Dam is actually two dams separated by a small island. The original structure was built in the 1820s to divert water from the Neversink River into the Delaware and Hudson Canal. The second structure was built in the early 1900s and the two dams served to divert water into a feeder canal connected to a small hydropower plant. The plant was abandoned in 1945 and the Cuddebackville Dam is currently owned by the local county. The southwest dam is 107 feet long while the northeast dam is 188.5 feet long.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Currently, the dam forms an unnatural limit to the habitat of the dwarf wedgemussel and restricts the movement of its host fish, which the mussel relies on to move its larvae upstream. No dwarf wedgemussles have been found upstream of the Cuddebackville Dam. This limitation on the population size and range leaves the endangered mussel vulnerable to catastrophic loss. Additionally, the dam restricts the upstream movement of shad and trout. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reports that runs of American shad have been observed in the Neversink in schools of 100 to 1,000 that tend to move up the river before being blocked in their migration by the Cuddebackville Dam.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]This October, The Nature Conservancy teamed up with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Orange County to demolish the southwest portion of the dam in an effort to improve the habitat for migratory fish, endangered mussels and resident fish. There are currently about 100,000 dams in the United States and the demolition of the Cuddebackville Dam on the historic Neversink River will be the first dam removal in New York history for environmental reasons.[/size][/green][/font]
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[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The Cuddebackville Dam is located in the hamlet of Cuddebackville, New York, and 235 acres of the Neversink watershed are located upstream from the dam. The Cuddebackville Dam is actually two dams separated by a small island. The original structure was built in the 1820s to divert water from the Neversink River into the Delaware and Hudson Canal. The second structure was built in the early 1900s and the two dams served to divert water into a feeder canal connected to a small hydropower plant. The plant was abandoned in 1945 and the Cuddebackville Dam is currently owned by the local county. The southwest dam is 107 feet long while the northeast dam is 188.5 feet long.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Currently, the dam forms an unnatural limit to the habitat of the dwarf wedgemussel and restricts the movement of its host fish, which the mussel relies on to move its larvae upstream. No dwarf wedgemussles have been found upstream of the Cuddebackville Dam. This limitation on the population size and range leaves the endangered mussel vulnerable to catastrophic loss. Additionally, the dam restricts the upstream movement of shad and trout. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reports that runs of American shad have been observed in the Neversink in schools of 100 to 1,000 that tend to move up the river before being blocked in their migration by the Cuddebackville Dam.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]This October, The Nature Conservancy teamed up with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Orange County to demolish the southwest portion of the dam in an effort to improve the habitat for migratory fish, endangered mussels and resident fish. There are currently about 100,000 dams in the United States and the demolition of the Cuddebackville Dam on the historic Neversink River will be the first dam removal in New York history for environmental reasons.[/size][/green][/font]
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