Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
With the removal of Bloede’s Dam in Patapsco Valley State Park, officials predict that fish in the Patapsco River should be able to reach upstream in two weeks’ time after being blocked from swimming to that area for more than a century.
Ranger Rob Dyke also expect safer swimming for park patrons and lighter workloads for employees.
Bloede’s Dam, located in the Avalon area of the state park in Baltimore, was blasted last month after a rainy summer delayed its removal for a couple of weeks. The work should be completed within weeks, said Dyke, park manager.
“There is not much left of the walls,” said Dyke. “I would expect, if the weather holds, there will be very little left of the dam in two weeks’ time.”
Fish should flow freely, he said.
“There will be large numbers of shad, herring and American eels that will now be able to spawn upstream,” Dyke said. “They have been blocked, for the most part, since the early 1900s. The longest fish ladder in the state was proven to be ineffective for fish and the American eel.”
Dyke added that safety will increase and workloads decrease.
The dam has been the site of several deaths in recent decades, and with its removal, park patrons will be able to swim in the Patapsco River more safely, said Dyke.
“Natural Resources Police and Patapsco Valley State Park will no longer need to patrol that area as heavily as we did in the past,” he said. “It took a lot of work to keep people from jumping and sliding off of the dam.”
The weather has not cooperated with park official plans. Baltimore is on track to have its rainiest year on record, and this summer’s storms resulted in the rest of Grist Mill trail being closed because of flood damage and “severe washouts that are undercutting the trail and [that need] repair on multiple bridge crossings,” said Kim Mason, Patapsco Valley State Park visitor services attendant.
A catastrophic flood occurred on May 27 and left Maryland in a state of emergency. After the flood, the park and a handful of trails including Buzzards Rock trail and Soapstone trail were closed for about a month to fix damages, but Grist Mill trail is one of the last trails yet to open, officials said.
Although there is no opening date for Grist Mill trail, Mason said the trail is “an essential and valuable asset to all park patrons.”
The park’s swinging bridge that connects to the Grist Mill trail also is closed at one end to deter people from accessing the trail. And, the park’s Lost Lake is closed too because of flood damage. The lake was a popular fishing spot at the park, officials said.
“The Grist Mill trail and Lost Lake are closed due to the substantial damage that they took during the flood on Memorial Day and the several floods that occurred after that,” said Jen Allshouse, also a visitor services attendant at the state park. “The flooding eroded a majority of the trail and Lost Lake, making the areas unsafe.”
Historically, the dam was a cornerstone for revolutionary hydroelectric technology that supplied power for the Patapsco Electric and Manufacturing Co. in Ellicott City. Bloede’s Dam was the world’s first underwater hydroelectric plant. However, with the dam no longer supplying electricity, it quickly became an eyesore and a public safety hazard.
Veneese Sebastian, the office manager at the state park headquarters, said that park staff has been working hard to accommodate patrons despite the season’s floods and the demolition of the dam.
“While the season has been a challenge, due to the flooding and construction, the staff at PVSP have done a stellar job at keeping the park safe and enjoyable for our patrons,” said Sebastian.