According to Kory Dudash, Director of Conservation and Sustainability at The Watershed Institute, a pipe outfall at the Wargo Pond in Pennington, NJ collapsed in 2019 due to age. With little warning, the pond started draining rapidly.
Dudash stated that The Watershed Institute had to react or else they risked losing the man-made pond that functions as a valuable educational and recreational resource.
Steve Tuorto, Director of Science and Stewardship at The Watershed Institute says, “We did debate whether or not it was better for us to just remove the whole dam and just restore it to native wetland and stream.”
The ultimate decision to save the pond was made possible with a grant provided by the Green Acres Stewardship program, a program through the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. A sign acknowledging this contribution adorns the gate outside Wargo Pond.
Kevin Walsh, Watershed CFO, said in a comment, that the project also “received private donations and public funding with a matching requirement from The Watershed Institute.”
Dudash says the restoration first involved dredging the pond. It lasted 2-3 months, by her estimate.
Dr. Tuorto remembers construction workers finding themselves saving turtles. The Department of Fish and Wildlife, working alongside The Watershed, spent three days relocating around 3,000 fish in a mass salvage.
“I was surprised by the sheer number,” says Dr. Tuorto, who worked during the salvage. He adds, “I expected there to be good [fish] in there, but it was just constant.”
The dam was reconstructed, according to Dudash, and “with the pipe that was installed this time, the DEP has kind of made these dam restoration projects as indestructible as possible…[using] a big concrete pipe.”
“But,” says Dudash, “we know the Titanic was indestructible too.”
Now that phase one of Wargo Pond’s restoration is complete, according to Dudash, Watershed plans to focus on ensuring that the newly restored pond can support wildlife as well as human recreation.
So far, this has involved Dr. Tuorto’s work observing aquatic wildlife and vegetation to determine the pond’s readiness to support fish before restocking them. The Watershed Institute is also evaluating everything from using native plant species as a barrier for runoff to the impact of goose droppings.
In addition to restoring the pond, Dudash says they will also remove dead ash trees and reevaluate the trails used for school trips to ensure they aren’t too muddy.
Dudash adds, “We’re hoping to install a viewing platform that can handle school groups…and that will be ADA accessible. We’ll also have scopes to be able to see, you know, birds and whatnot in the pond.”
Even while Wargo Pond was being dredged last summer, it functioned as a resource for childhood education.
Jake Brown, a student at Hopewell Valley Central High School, worked as a Watershed camp counselor during Wargo’s restoration.
Brown said, “I remember having our campers go down to play in the mud [last summer]. Some campers would barely touch it, others would fully submerge every article of clothing and strand of hair. A few campers even got stuck so deep in the mud, I’d have to walk out to them and pull them out.”
Brown says these experiences make up “some of the memories I’ll never forget from working at the “‘Shed.”
Now, looking at a water-filled Wargo pond, Dr. Tuorto addresses the importance of conservation projects like these saying, “If you can’t give someone access and help them to kind of enjoy and respect [their environment], they’re not going to want to own it and own the fact that we’re all responsible for it, and it doesn’t get protected…So getting somebody out and showing [them nature] is key.”
