Blydenburgh County Park Dam Collapses
On the evening of August 18, 2024, as much as 11 inches of rainfall induced extreme flash flooding that led to the collapse of two dams on Lengthy Island’s Nissequogue River. Mill Pond in Stony Brook and Blydenburgh Lake (often known as Stump Pond) in Smithtown had been emptied, which, within the case of Blydenburgh, resulted in a preferred freshwater fishery being worn out in a single day.
A Fishery Gone
Blydenburgh was a preferred fishing vacation spot, notably for kayak anglers, with a longtime largemouth bass fishery the place fish as much as 6 kilos weren’t unparalleled. Along with bass, the pond carried yellow perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, black crappie, stocked trout, catfish, and extra. I can credit score a few of my earliest freshwater fishing reminiscences to Blydenburgh. I spent lots of time fishing there each from shore and in my kayak every winter and spring. Most of what I find out about largemouth bass was realized fishing that pond. As well as, the yellow perch and crappie that had been considerable in there made for enjoyable fishing on ultralight deal with and it was a terrific place to show somebody the best way to fish.
The Race to Rebuild
Suffolk County Government Ed Romaine held a press convention on the web site of the Blydenburgh dam collapse. He was joined by many native and state officers, together with State Senator Mario Mattera who, with regard to rebuilding, acknowledged, “we have to get this carried out ASAP”, calling for help from the Military Corps of Engineers and federal funding to make it occur.
Romaine additionally highlighted the necessity to strengthen the dams throughout the county towards future storms. Commissioner of DPW Charles Bartha promised, “we will likely be restoring this as rapidly as potential”, stating that they’ve already met with a contractor on the web site and pledged to work intently with NYSDEC to comply with by means of on plans.
Members of the angling and paddling group have additionally referred to as for the dam to be rebuilt as quickly as potential, with many citing nostalgia and the leisure advantages the pond offered. Blydenburgh was generally known as certainly one of Lengthy Island’s higher freshwater haunts for its measurement (compared to smaller, close by ponds) and accessible shoreline, and there’ll little question be rippling results from its loss impacting different freshwater fishing spots throughout the island.
A Case for Not Rebuilding The Dam
As an angler, my knee-jerk response to the dam collapse was to wish to see it rebuilt as quickly as potential, with the bass fishery constructed again higher than it was. Nonetheless, I got here throughout a completely different perspective on the dam from an area group generally known as the Seatuck Environmental Affiliation. I reached out to Seatuck to get their ideas on the dam and study extra about what the professionals and cons of rebuilding it might be, and I rapidly bought in contact with Enrico Nardone, their Government Director.
Nardone started by telling me that there have really been 4 dam failures previously, and none of them have since been repaired. One current instance, West Brook Pond Dam, a once-popular heat water fishery, failed in 2019 and was not rebuilt by the State Parks workplace. Seatuck has since been closely concerned in eradicating invasive species from the realm and inspiring the re-growth of native species, which sprang up from the 120-year-old seed financial institution after the mud dried from the following drainage.
Nardone acknowledged that Blydenburgh could possibly be an analogous ecological success story if the pure movement is left in place, and talked about that the cons can be within the type of much less warm-water fishing alternative, however adopted that with the potential professional of improved habitat for Lengthy Island’s native sea-run brook trout that at the moment exist throughout the Nissequogue River. He additionally introduced up migratory species similar to alewife and river herring, which may enter the river in bigger numbers and supply extra forage for the migratory striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish that enter the Nissequogue River every spring, benefiting these fisheries.
His closing factors involved the financial price of rebuilding a brand new dam, and the potential for the brand new Blydenburgh Dam to be labeled as higher-risk, which might make it dearer to construct. Yow will discover extra details about the professionals and cons of not rebuilding the dam in this publish of an op-ed revealed in Newsday from the Seatuck Group. Nardone and John Turner spotlight each financial and environmental causes as to why the county may think about not rebuilding the Blydenburgh Dam.
Whereas discussing the potential of leaving the movement as-is with my buddy and avid fly angler Sean Conway, he raised an essential level: there’s a second dam nonetheless standing on the Nissequogue at Whites Pool, which might should be thought-about if the county finally determined to not rebuild the Blydenburgh dam and reap the total ecological advantages.
“The Stony Brook dam not being rebuilt is sensible because it’s a direct movement to the bay. The difficulty with Blydenburgh is that the Nissequogue River is dammed up in two locations,” he defined over textual content. “Regardless that the Stump Pond dam blew out, the one at Whites Pool continues to be standing, to my data, and that’s the direct feed to brackish water.”
Sean continued, “There’s no fish ladder there, so even when they left Stump Pond’s dam as-is, there wouldn’t be a lot flowing up there in addition to the stocked trout in Caleb Smith State Park and any surviving native brook trout.” In different phrases, if the the Stump Pond dam just isn’t rebuilt and the river is left to movement freely, a fish ladder would nonetheless be crucial at White’s Pool if there are any hopes of bettering fish passage for alewife and sea-run trout between Blydenburgh and Lengthy Island Sound.
A Enormous Loss for Freshwater Anglers
The lack of the pond at Blydenburgh has created an enormous void for freshwater anglers on Lengthy Island. We already had slim pickings by way of publicly accessible freshwater fishing spots, and Stump Pond at Blydenburgh was among the finest.
I spoke with Brian Mahon, a member of Slay Nation and Lengthy Island Kayak Bass Fishing Affiliation (LIKBF), together with a number of others at a membership assembly in early September. Lots of them recalled catching their private finest largemouth bass from the pond. Issues had been additionally raised that different already pressured freshwater spots will possible see much more fishing exercise as a result of lack of Blydenburgh. “Blydenburgh was one of many few nice freshwater fisheries on Lengthy Island. It might be an enormous disappointment to the fishing group if the dam doesn’t get mounted,” Mahon stated.
Among the many discussions we had, one that basically piqued my curiosity was the membership’s previous conversations with the DEC concerning bass stocking, and the potential of introducing species similar to F1 Bass into our waters. You may study extra about F1’s right here. Hybrid bass apart, if the dam is rebuilt, the membership and different native organizations will likely be trying to increase funds to assist re-stock the pond and make it the trophy fishery it as soon as was, presumably even higher.
Get Concerned with Blydenburgh’s Restoration
As of the time of this text being revealed, the county has made it clear that they intend to rebuild the dam, and do it rapidly with federal help.
If you are interested in Blydenburgh Lake, I encourage you to remain up-to-date on new info as it’s launched, get entangled with native fishing golf equipment and organizations like LIKBF and Seatuck, and keep knowledgeable on Suffolk County’s progress with the dam. It’s essential for leisure anglers to be included as stakeholders within the park’s future and to advocate for Lengthy Island’s freshwater fishing alternatives.
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