Anglers Feel Cheated at Walter Dam
By Steve Mocarsky, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
Apr. 17–BEAR CREEK TWP. — Some area anglers say the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gives unfair preference to white-water rafters over anglers when it comes to water releases at Francis E. Walter Reservoir in Bear Creek and Kidder townships.
Ed Bilski of Wilkes-Barre Township has fished at the reservoir — commonly referred to as Walter Dam — for decades.
But a plan the corps implemented in cooperation with state agencies to study the effects of raising the water level at the dam to increase white-water recreational opportunities and improve fish habitat has left anglers without a safe place to launch their boats, Bilski said.
Previously, corps employees maintained a pool level at the base of the dam at about 1,300 feet above sea level. At that level, the public can access a parking lot and boat launch off a road that runs across the base of the dam.
But the study called for raising that pool level to 1,335 feet last year between April and October, and to 1,360 feet this year. That put the boat launch and parking lot under 25 to 55 feet of water.
Bilski said anyone who wants to launch a boat at the dam would have to ignore a "road closed" sign and back a boat trailer halfway down a narrow, curvy road that drops off into the water.
"It’s something beautiful up here, but it can’t be used," Bilski said.
The dam was built in 1961 at the convergence of Bear Creek and the Lehigh River primarily for flood control, and with a secondary purpose of enhancing recreational opportunities, said Edward Voigt, chief of public and legislative affairs for the corps’ Philadelphia District.
Voigt said that when the corps designed the 2005 and 2006 studies, which were approved by the Delaware River Basin Commission, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the state Fish and Boat Commission, "it was with the realization that it was not ideal for all recreational interests."
"Our decision was guided largely by what would yield the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people — and greatest economic benefit to the region as well," Voigt said.
Fisherman Francis Keen of Bear Creek Township said he heard a launch was constructed downstream for rafters, but no new launch was constructed upstream for fishermen. "It’s OK if you raise the water level, but they have to give you halfway-decent access."
Keen’s son Daren said he now has to drive long distances to fish with his sons because the land at the base of the dam with higher water levels is "treacherous."
Dan Tredinnick, press secretary for the Fish and Boat Commission, said increased water releases will "hopefully benefit downstream fishing," adding that designing the study was "a balancing act. We have to strike a balance between competing interests," he said, referring to upstream and downstream anglers and white-water enthusiasts.
And while sometimes "the balance is tipped one way or another, we want to make sure we’re providing reasonable opportunities for all those different groups," Tredinnick said.
Bilski and the Keens said that although the state receives money from white-water excursion companies per rafter, they said anglers pay more to the state for fishing licenses and stamps and should get more consideration.
Voigt said "there are efforts both at the federal and state levels to secure additional funds so that we can build a new boat ramp that would solve these access problems."
Former Bear Creek Township Supervisor Ed Benkoski said the township applied for grants to fund a new boat launch off White Haven Road, and the documents were hand-delivered to the corps office at the dam last year.
"But they don’t know what they did with the papers," Benkoski said.
Voigt said he wasn’t familiar with specifics on efforts to fund a new boat launch, and the project manager was unavailable Thursday and Friday last week.
The anglers say that to be fair, funding for a new boat launch should have been secured before raising the pool level at the base of the dam.
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Corps of Engineers is planning white-water releases for the Lehigh River on the following dates:
May 13, 14, 27 and 28; Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 — 750 cubic feet per second, target; 1,000 cubic feet per second, maximum.
June 10, 11, 24 and 25; July 8, 9, 22 and 23; Aug. 5, 6, 19 and 20; and Sept. 2 and 3 — 750 target and 750 maximum.
The target release for Saturday and Sunday of Columbus Day weekend is 1,200 cubic feet per second.
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Learn more about the Francis E. Walter Dam and ongoing projects there at .mil/Projects/FEWalter [http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Projects/FEWalter]
Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005.
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