November 2007;

                 A reoccurring problem on many of our smaller urban streams is the building of rock dams by people, either to increase water depth for swimming or to trap fish. On the Pequabuck River in Bristol CT. this issue is an ongoing problem, especially on the Rockwell Park stretch. The river extends the length of Rockwell Park and the park is heavily used. It is also stocked with trout and salmon smolts by the CT DEP in the spring and and the  Pequabuck River Watershed Association (PRWA) in the fall. In most instances, the dams tend to be small in nature, formed by placement of smaller stones in the main channel. During periods of normal water flows, these tend not to be a major problem for fish stocks. This past year's drought caused very low water levels to the river which increased the problem of these dams. Members of the PRWA routinely monitor this section of the river and this past fall discovered a very large and elaborately built dam. This dam was not a normal project undertaken by kids. The dam was approximately 3 ft high and reinforced with poly mesh and plastic sedimentation fencing. Very large boulders, which would have required multiple 'adults' to move, were stacked below and on top of the mesh and plastic, creating a very effective barrier to fish passage. So effective and elaborate was the dam, that the difference of the water level between the upstream height and the downstream height was at least 4.5 to 5 ft. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, members of FVTU and PRWA joined forces to form a work crew to remove this dam along with 2 smaller dams. Because one of the smaller dams was located in a popular and productive  fishing area upstream of the park and which is not conductive to swimming or wading and because of the nature and amount of energy involved in the building of the larger dam, we suspect that fishermen may have behind the construction. The increased pooling in these areas would no doubt have drawn fish to these areas and would have made the fish much more susceptible to harvesting, especially to bait fisherman. In fact, during our teardown, trout and salmon were observed in the floating leaf litter behind the large dam.

 

View of smaller dam in Rockwell Park	Bill breaches the large Dam
FVTU members Bill C. Frank P. and Jerry B.	FVTU member Chet R. leading the troops
FVTU and PRWA team up!	Plastic sheeting and mesh taken from dam. Note the water mark on the white rock in the main channelafter the breach.

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