A matter of gravel concern?

By SANDY LONG

NARROWSBURG — When floodwaters receded in Narrowsburg’s Big Eddy, a new gravel bar emerged. Some observers expressed concern, wondering if something should be done to it.

Don Hamilton, Natural Resource Specialist for the National Park Service, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, said there’s no reason for alarm about the new gravel bar, and that it has likely resulted from upstream sources moved by the powerful high flows of the river.

“Rivers and streams are dynamic areas that change with events like this last flood, and eventually achieve a somewhat stable geometry,” he explained. “We should understand them as such, and not try to control them.”

This process is potentially a healing mechanism whereby the river attempts to restore a more natural flow pattern. Nathaniel Gillespie, Fisheries Scientist for Trout Unlimited (TU), said that Narrowsburg’s gravel bar might be there for a number of reasons, among them the possibility that “a new pulse of sediment has reached the area and the river has been able to rebuild this feature which returns the river to its more natural, stable shape. By taking out a gravel bar or removing a bend in the river, you increase the local velocity. The river may then speed up and slam into the opposite bank downstream, causing more erosion than would have occurred naturally.”

Eventually, vegetation begins to cover such gravel bars, creating the appearance of islands. “The islands in the Big Eddy are all moving downstream gradually,” said Bill Douglass, Executive Director of the Upper Delaware Council (UDC). “It’s a natural process.”