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Niagara
Issues - Fish Creek Upper Bank Intake http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/ResBot/niag/ |
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Niagara
Issues - Fish Creek Upper Bank Intake Fish Creek, Niagara County, town of Lewiston, flows just above the Niagara Escarpment (south of its rim). It flows westwardly through the Tuscarora Indian Reservation on the east, north of and parallel to the northern boundary of the Reservoir of the New York State Power Authority (NYPA) and its forebay. In its western reach, Fish Creek flows westwardly north of Upper Mountain Road. The Creek historically fell over the crest of the Niagara River Gorge near its northern terminus overlooking the Lake Ontario lake plain, north of the Lewiston-Queenston International Bridge.
The close-up below shows
Fish Creek flowing westward from the east in the Niagara Falls Country Club.
The close-up image indicates the stream is subaerial in its descent over the
rim of the Niagara River gorge, but actually the stream is directed into an
underground conduit and flows subterraneous under the Robert Moses Parkway, a
high-speed thoroughfare that runs north-south, parallel to the rim of the
gorge. The Creek debouches subaerially just above the Niagara River surface
on the lower bank of the river.
Groundwork would need to
be done to identify the ancestral gorge feature that represents the
aboriginal, ancient outfall of the Creek. A likely candidate might be a
sculpted cove in the face of the gorge wall visible just upstream from the
present, channelized discharge, a shallower, less spectacular cousin of the
larger, upstream cove called Devil's Hole- the outfall of the buried channel
of Bloody Run Creek. Bloody Run is difficult to detect subaerially above the
Niagara River gorge, but the natural discharge in the lower talus of Devil's
Hole cove is probably part of the drainage of that stream. The shallower cove,
which may perhaps be called the Old Fish Creek Cove, occurs in the gorge wall
just upstream from the northern terminus of the Niagara River gorge in
Lewiston, New York, on the lake plain, near the southern boundary of Artpark
State Park. It is visible on the upper of the two trails (old railroad beds).
Its lower bank configuration is buried under shale fill. There is an old
stone bridge and conduit at the discharge cove beside the upper trail and
once was part of a series of spectacular romantic features of the native
landscape as the upper train descended down the gorge face into Lewiston
station from a station at what is presently Niagara University. Note that
this upper train bed predated the lower bed that ran on the low bank just
above the river surface (the Niagara Gorge Belt Line or the Great Gorge Route
and International Railway, open in 1895). Note also that old botanical labels
indicating plants collected on the railroad bed to Lewiston predate 1895 and
refer to the upper bed, or the upper hiking trail, as it is used today.
In its final few hundred
yards before descending underground through the gorge wall, Fish Creek flows
subaerially through the lovely golf course of the Niagara Falls Country Club.
One may visualize the historic creek bed. Identification of the old trees
occurring in the golf today course may indicate the aboriginal nature of the
forest ecosystem, where Bur Oak (Quercus
macrocarpa), Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum),
Red Maple (Acer rubrum) and
subdominants Green Ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica)
and American Elm (Ulmus Americana)
may have occurred. Another forest type, however, may have been situated here,
similar to the Niagara University wet oak-hickory woods existing a mile to
the east and south of the golf course.
The present bed of Fish Creek is here completely channelized
with concrete. It is probable that the creek, as it occurs east of the golf
course may have soil banks.
Restoring Fish Creek's ecological function was a
topic discussed earlier in the year (2003) at public scoping sessions for
relicensing for NYPA. This close-up of the bed of Fish Creek at its terminus
would be a major challenge for such a restoration. Not even algae is evident
excepting trace amounts and the water
appears unusually clean for such an exposed stream flow.
In this image, the upper end of the underground
conduit that receives the stream discharge is visible.
I thank Neil Patterson,
Jr., Director, and Rene Rickard, Water Quality Technician, of the Tuscarora
Environment Program (Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force) of the Tuscarora
Nation, for kindly providing information regarding the identification of the
various stream courses in the Lewiston area. Introductory map USGS,
Washington, D.C. (1965) Lewiston, Ont. - N.Y.; NE/4 Niagara Falls 15'
Quadrangle. Note that on this 1965
map image, an active train bed of the New York Central Railway is indicated
(a third railroad bed). This rail no longer exists (2003) except in fragments and in the industrial sidings along
Hyde Park in the City of Niagara Falls. The 1965 map shows the bed dividing
Niagara University and passing over the NYPA power plant at the western end
of the forebay. This old bed may still be seen just east of the Robert Moses
Parkway as it descends the north-facing Niagara Escarpment. The old railway
continues eastward immediately at the base of the escarpment and parallel to
it ("Lewiston Hill"). Images were taken the
first week of August, 2003 |
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