Posts Tagged ‘Adirondack Dams’

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

The tension surrounding wilderness dams

duck hole

Very few structures conform to the rigorous restrictions imposed on Adirondack wilderness areas – unless you are talking about dams.

Largely a remnant of the region’s logging industry, structures that impound the headwaters of scenic and wild rivers dot the park’s most remote corners. While no new dams can be built in wilderness areas, existing ones can be maintained, one of the few structures considered conforming.

Despite management plans that suggest the state should maintain its most remote dams, some have fallen deep into disrepair, while others have succumbed to storms in recent years (see Duck Hole and Marcy dams).

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Investigating dams of the Adirondacks

conklingville dam

Over 500 dams dot the Adirondack Park, shaping the physical and social landscape of the region more than any other infrastructure.

The dams are integral to Adirondack history and the way today’s residents and visitors experience the park. They also quietly threaten public safety.

For the past year, I compiled documents, visited dams, interviewed owners and examined the state of those hundreds of dams. This weekend we started rolling out a series of stories that explores the safety and ownership of the riskiest structures, the unique position of backcountry dams and lessons from other states about how to improve dam safety.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, December 14, 2022

A dam dispute: Talks stall at Conklingville

 

conklingville dam

A dispute between the state agency that controls the Conklingville Dam and the private hydropower company that operates there is likely headed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

While federal licenses assigned to both the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District and Brookfield Renewables don’t expire for another two decades, an operating agreement between the two expires Dec. 31. Talks to extend or amend the agreement, which outlines payments Brookfield makes to the district, fell apart in recent weeks.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t

Let me wrap up something I’m really happy to be a part of: a series of stories looking at the Adirondacks’ rivers, its dams and efforts to return salmon to the rivers despite the dams.

Over the last month, we published a story from the series every week or so, but I want to make sure you’ve had a chance to see them all in one place:

» Continue Reading.


Friday, October 30, 2020

Rivers and Dams

Over the past several months, I’ve begun to explore the role that dams play in the Adirondacks.

There are about 750 in the North Country. About 30 are a hazard with known safety problems. That’s the worrying part about dams.

But, at the moment I write this, about 21 percent of the state’s power is coming from some dam or another, making hydroelectricity one of the cleaner sources of power available.

“Cleaner” — not necessarily greener.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, February 18, 2020

1800s Adirondack Reservoirs Talk in Syracuse

dam at Old ForgeIn the 19th century the state of New York built many dams, reservoirs, and even feeder canals in the Black River watershed of the Western Adirondacks as the Erie Canal’s dry periods became more and more costly.

Many of these spots became important recreational attractions, and helped to shape how the Adirondack Park is used today. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, April 28, 2019

In 1969, Citizens Saved the Upper Hudson from Destruction

Fifty springs ago, the Upper Hudson River was conserved as a wild, free flowing river. The Schenectady Gazette’s writer Pete Jacobs reported the news in the April 17, 1969 edition of that newspaper:

“Without opposition, the Assembly gave swift approval to legislation prohibiting the construction of the Gooley Dam on the Upper Hudson River, branded by conservationists as a threat to the wild river country.”

In addition to Gooley, the bill blocks construction of any reservoirs on the river from Luzerne to its source in the Adirondack Park. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, March 10, 2019

St. Regis Falls Dam A Renewable Energy Option

Azure Mountain Power in St Regis Falls Saranac Lake based Northern Power & Light, Inc. has gained approval to operate under a new program created by New York State that allows electric customers to purchase a share of the electricity from a small renewable generator.

The company operates a a 700 kW hydroelectric plant, Azure Mountain Power, in St Regis Falls. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Spier Falls Disaster: An Adirondack Tragedy

Adirondack history is naturally rife with river-related stories—wildly successful fishing trips, damaging floods, wilderness exploration, and dam construction. Rivers were the lifeblood of development:  settlements sprang up along waterways, where partial diversion of streams provided the wheel-turning power necessary to many industries. But freshets were so common and destructive that dams were introduced as flood-control measures, and then for hydropower as the electrification of society unfolded.

Recognizing the great financial potential of providing electricity to industries and the masses, power companies sought to develop dozens of potential reservoir sites. Among the arguments they used to justify building dam after dam was public safety. Ironically, the construction of a hydro dam was marred by one of the worst tragedies in Adirondack history. » Continue Reading.


Monday, July 30, 2018

Removing the Quarry Dam, West Branch Ausable

Monitoring teamQuarry Dam, on the West Branch Ausable River just outside Lake Placid, has been identified for removal this summer. The removal is being conducted by the Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited, in collaboration with others.

The abandoned concrete and timber crib dam, three feet high and about 50 feet long, is creating undesirable impacts on the fish and aquatic life. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 30, 2017

Tupper Lake Dams: The Dammedest Place

Mike PrescottTAUNY, Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, will host a lunchtime program, TAUNY Talk & Taste: “Tupper Lake Dams: The Dammedest Place” with Mike Prescott on Tuesday, October 3, from 12 to 1 pm. TAUNY’s current exhibit tells the stories of the dams and powerhouses built along the Raquette River in the 1950s and more recently.

One alternate plan for the river would have left much of Tupper Lake as we know it under thirty feet of water. Raquette River guide and historian Mike Prescott will give a presentation on the other river – the other Adirondack geography – that might have been. Guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy a specially crafted meal by Big Spoon Kitchen, inspired by the granola, power bars, water, and fruit that Mike usually takes on a paddle. Big Spoon’s “paddle lunch” will include a healthy wrap, an apple, and their signature chocolate peanut butter power balls. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Raquette River Dam Stories, Exhibit at TAUNY

TAUNY Exhibit on Raquette RiverTAUNY (Traditional Arts in Upstate New York) is holding an opening reception for their latest exhibit, “You’ll See Our Tracks: Raquette River Dam Stories” on Saturday, June 10, 2017 .

The Raquette River, which flows from Raquette Lake to the St. Lawrence River, is one of the most heavily dammed rivers in New York State.

From 2014 to 2016, TAUNY partnered with the Raquette River Blueway Corridor Group, the Village of Potsdam, and Watertown PBS to document the stories of people involved in or significantly affected by the construction of the hydroelectric dams and powerhouses along the Raquette River. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, January 8, 2017

Boreas Ponds Dam Drives Debate

boreas ponds damThe Adirondack Park Agency held public hearings on Boreas Ponds at eight different locations around the state in November and December. Hundreds of people spoke, offering a potpourri of opinions. But one constant was a sea of green T-shirts bearing the slogan “I Want Wilderness.”

BeWildNY, a coalition of eight environmental groups, created the T-shirts to push the idea that Boreas Ponds should be classified as motor-free Wilderness. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 20, 2016

A Short History of The Beaver River Club

Joseph Dunbar’s Hotel at Stillwater, the original Clubhouse From its founding in 1893, and over the next 30 years, the Beaver River Club was the destination of many of the visitors to the Stillwater area.

It was the summer retreat of wealthy and influential families from Syracuse, Utica and to a lesser extent from throughout New York State. The decision to enlarge the Stillwater Dam and create today’s Stillwater Reservoir utterly destroyed this glittering outpost in the wild. Here is its story. » Continue Reading.


Monday, January 4, 2016

A Historic Defeat For Forest Preserve Exploiters

old white pine that would have been flooded by the Higley Mtn Dam. The tree, while dead, still stands today. It takes more than 4 people to put their arms around it.During his years as a senior advisor to many younger Adirondack conservationists, Paul Schaefer told some interesting stories. He witnessed the following incident in the New York State Legislature in 1953, when he was about 45-years-old, at the height of his effectiveness as a conservation organizer. The following story is about passage of what was called the Ostrander Amendment, an amendment to Article 14, Section 1 – the “forever wild clause” – of the New York State Constitution.

In 1953, the Ostrander Amendment had been twice passed by the State Assembly and the bill was on the floor of the State Senate, then being chaired by Lieutenant Governor Frank Moore. The Clerk of the Senate began to read the bill when a State Senator came up to the Lt. Governor’s desk, grabbed the bill from the Clerk, and quickly left the Senate Chamber. The Lt. Governor sent one of his aides after him and as the aide rushed out of the Senate chamber, he saw the Senator headed into a washroom. Following him, the aide found the State Senator about to flush the bill down the toilet. The aide, a big man, grabs the Senator by the collar, snatches the bill from his grasp and takes it back to the Senate Chamber and hands it back to the Lt. Governor, who said, according to Paul, “the next man who tries to take this bill I will personally hit with this gavel.” » Continue Reading.



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