Partnership Looks to Restore Wildlife in Area
Date
2010-07-29
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The article details a collaborative effort to restore American and hickory shad populations to the White Clay Creek, a National Wild and Scenic River near Newark, Delaware. The University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration (IPA) Water Resources Agency (WRA), along with the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Brandywine Conservancy, is working to remove historic dams that block fish migration. Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Park Service, the project aims to reopen 13 miles of habitat for shad spawning, inaccessible for over a century due to obsolete dams.
The UD team, led by assistant policy scientist Martha Corrozi Narvaez and graduate students, has surveyed the creek to assess the feasibility of dam removal and published an initial report. The project will seek further funding to implement dam removal and restore fish migration.
Educational outreach includes the "Shad in Schools" program, teaching students about the fish and the importance of water quality. Future efforts will secure American shad eggs to support the program. Promising signs include an unexpected abundance of hickory shad observed during a recent survey.
The initiative builds on significant water-quality improvements since the Clean Water Act and the White Clay Creek's designation as a National Wild and Scenic River in 2000, introduced by then-Senator Joe Biden. This unique designation, based on the watershed, highlights the creek's ecological and historical importance, including its connection to the University of Delaware.