W. Branch Perkiomen

The Perkiomen Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited retained F. X. Browne, Inc. to conduct a dam removal feasibility for Mensch Mill dam, a low-head dam located on the West Branch Perkiomen Creek. The purpose of the study was to determine the existing costs and benefits associated with the dam and impoundment, and to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with various design options ranging from dam rehabilitation to dam removal.

Located approximately 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia , the Upper Perkiomen Watershed encompasses 144 square miles of land in Montgomery , Berks, Lehigh and Bucks Counties and includes six major tributary systems: the West Branch of the Perkiomen (also known as Northwest Branch), Indian Creek, Hosensack Creek, Macoby Creek, Unami Creek, Ridge Valley Creek, and Deep Creek. The Upper Perkiomen Creek watershed is located in the northern portion of the Perkiomen Creek Watershed, which is the largest single subwatershed within the Schuylkill River Basin .  

The Perkiomen Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited (PVTU) conducts stewardship and restoration activities throughout the Upper Perkiomen Creek Watershed including streambank fencing and riparian buffer planting, pond and dam studies, and Streambank restoration. In recent years, PVTU has focused many of its stewardship efforts on the West ranch Perkiomen Creek, an exceptional value stream and naturally reproducing brown trout fishing that drains the western portion of the Upper Perkiomen Creek Watershed.

Anecdotal evidence collected by PVTU suggests that a series of three low-head dams located on the West Branch may be significantly impacting the stream’s cold water fishery by creating thermal stress, impeding adult trout in the lower reaches of the creek from accessing potential spawning areas, promoting the siltation of natural habitats, and restricting the ability of fish to escape thermal stresses and access food sources. PVTU is interested in evaluating the feasibility of completely or partially removing the structures as a way to significantly expand and improve the existing fishery.

For more information about this project, please contact Chaz Macdonald at chazmac1949@rcn.com. 

  Download the W. Branch of Perkiomen Creek Dam Removal Study Here