The Dams of the Letchworth State Park Area: A Case Study

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The Dams:

There are nine dams in and directly leading to New York State’s Letchworth State Park. These dams have been built for a variety of reasons and affect nearly 400 miles of freshwater rivers in the Genesee River Basin of Western New York (Fish, n.d.).

The Elitsac Manufacturing Company Dam affects 14.08 miles of Wolf Creek (Fish, n.d.). The original purpose of this dam is not documented within the state’s dam inventory, and it is also no longer in service (Dam, n.d.). Another dam on Wolf Creek is Hopkins Mill Dam, which also is out of service. The Hopkins Mill Dam was originally built to generate hydroelectric power and affects 46.58 miles of river (Fish, n.d.).

Two of the dams were built to form stock ponds and for fire protection, Old Acres Farm Dam and Stanly Mann Dam (Dam, n.d.). Old Acres Farm Dam makes an impoundment and affects 16.18 miles of Lacey Creek (Fish, n.d.). Stanly Mann Dam also forms an impoundment while affecting 100.27 miles of unnamed, minor Genesee River tributaries.

John Adams Dam was built on another Genesee River tributary to form a recreational pond affecting 43.78 miles of river (Fish, n.d.). There is a small, unnamed barrier affecting 3.16 miles of Genesee River tributary in the center of the park. I assume that it had been used during the building of walkways or roads in the park; however, there is no documentation on the dam’s purpose.

There are three dams directly on the Genesee River, one at the south end of the park and two at the north end (Fish, n.d.). According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the dam at the south end of the park is the Portageville Dam, which was built for irrigation and affects 45.16 miles of river. The Portageville Dam is not documented on the cu...

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Hägglund, Å., & Sjöberg, G. (1999). Effedts of beaver dams on the fish fauna of the forest streams. Forestry Ecology and Management, 115, 259-266.

Hinshaw, J. M. (n.d.). Species Profile: Yellow Perch, Perca flavescens. Aquaculture, Fish Farming Information - Portal for aquaculture and fish farming : TheFishSite.com. Retrieved February 26, 2011, from http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/241/species-profile-yellow-perch-perca-flavescens

Schilt, C. R. (2007). Developing fish passage and protection at hydropower dams. Applied Animal Behaviour Scence, 104, 295-325.

Smallmouth Bass | The Fish | Icthyology. (n.d.). Flyfishing Smallmouth Bass. Retrieved February 26, 2011, from http://fly-fishing-smallmouth.com/html/the_fish.html

The Little Sunfish. (n.d.). Home Page. Retrieved February 26, 2011, from http://www.warmwaterflyfisher.com/WWspecies/littlesunfish.htm

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