The Pequannoc Spillway is a

run-of-the-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

constructed in the 1920s as part of the

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...

system in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

on one bank of the river and Wayne, New Jersey on the other bank. The spillway creates usable waterfront land out of swamps and provides water retention by creating a

backwater Backwater or Backwaters may refer to: Music * ''Backwaters'' (album), a 1982 album by American guitarist Tony Rice * Backwater (band), a jazz fusion band from Mobile, Alabama, or this band's 1976 debut album * "Backwater", a song by Brian Eno fro ...

on the Ramapo River. The structure is listed as part of the Morris Canal on the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office within ...

as well as the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is a sister structure to the Pompton dam which lies on the Pompton River.

Technical description

The Pequannoc Spillway is an early 20th-century concrete spillway over 270 feet wide, equal in girth to the Great Falls of Paterson located along the Pompton River a quarter-mile south of the Pompton dam and associated guard bank in

Pequannock Township Pequannock Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 15,420, reflecting an increase of 1,652 (+11.9%) from the 13,888 counted in the 2000 Census, whi ...

's Aquatic Park. The dam is a run-of-the-river spillway, which traverses the width of the river and at normal water elevation allows water to spill over its face. The structure is 22 feet tall, though possesses only an 8-inch over 3 foot grade on the upstream side. An associated guard house sits near the site in poor repair.

History

Like its sister structure the Pompton Dam, the Pequannoc Spillway was originally made entirely of timber. Constructed in the early 19th century the Pequannoc Spillway aided in navigation upriver along the Morris Canal during its almost 100 years of use. The structure was also part of a system to maintain water levels along portions of the Pompton River and

Ramapo River The Ramapo River is a tributary of the Pompton River, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in southern New York and northern New Jersey in the United States. Course The Ramapo river rises in Round Lake, a small freshwater lake in the Town ...

which were at the time of their construction a part of the Morris Canal. The removal of the spillway was advocated against in the 1920s by C.C. Vermeule, Decommissioning Engineer for the Morris Canal and Dr. Henry B. Kümmel, General Manager of the Morris Canal and former New Jersey State Geologist. Both argued that removing the structure would reduce the surrounding lands to a series of "ill smelling mud flats," noting this would devalue the adjacent lands. On Vermeule's suggestion, the State of New Jersey has upgraded the dam to a concrete structure providing the same operation as it had previously performed. Though the Pequannoc Spillway is

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

ed on the upstream side such that the backwater it creates is no longer navigable, the spillway still sheds water over the entirety of this face creating a regional tourist attraction.

Controversy

An environmentalist group has advocated for the removal of the Pequannoc Spillway as well as the Pompton Dam, under the claims that this would reduce flooding for the upstream communities of

Pompton Lakes Pompton Lakes is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 11,097,Riverdale. However, unlike the Pompton Dam, the Pequannoc Spillway still allows water-flow over the entirety of its girth so claims of flood hazard have gained little traction. Representatives of townships downstream of the dam believe that flooding to their communities would be increased due to increased in water flow and velocity with the removal of the spillway, while historic preservationists do not believe that the dam should be removed as it is a protected part of the Morris Canal listed in both the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.http://www.northjersey.com/news/101358359_History_blocks_possible_fix_for_flooding.html?page=all

References

{{coord, 40.97142, -74.27915, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-NJ, display=title Run-of-the-river power stations Morris Canal Dams in New Jersey 1920s establishments in New Jersey Spillways