A Northampton County Council resolution opposing the removal of two Easton dams to restore shad migration met with resistance from seven of the eight members attending council's July 18 meeting.

Introduced by Councilman Bob Werner, the resolution listed a multitude of reasons for keeping the dams in place. Two major reasons involved cost of the project and rationale for the removal.

Dating back to the 1800's, the dams are located at the juncture of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers in Easton and the Chain Dam near Easton's Hugh Moore Park.

Based upon a Lehigh River Fish Passage Improvement Feasibility Study, removal of these dams to restore shad migration to the Lehigh River is estimated to cost about $18 million. The study does not suggest a means to pay for this project. Many questions have been raised about the effectiveness of flood mitigation through the removal of dams.

To gather more information about the soundness of the feasibility study, council decided to table the resolution.

Councilman Lamont McClure said he wanted to hear from the sportsmen who fish for shad to find out if taking out the dams would impact their fishing.

Councilman Ken Kraft said that he felt removing the dams would have an impact on the Delaware and Lehigh canals where millions of dollars have been spent to restore the towpaths in the aftermath of severe flooding.

On the other hand, councilmen Tom Dietrich and Scott Parsons said they wanted more information on how removal of the dams impact flood mitigation.

Parsons said the county's Open Space Advisory Committee had funded the removal of a dam along the Monocacy Creek recently to help alleviate historic Bethlehem's flooding problem in the Industrial Quarter.

Council's next regular meeting is at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 1 at Northampton County Courthouse's third floor, 669 Washington St., Easton.