Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River

[Drew]

I play golf in southeastern Pennsylvania almost every weekend at the Pilgrim's Oak Golf Club in Peach Bottom PA. This is a necessary ritual that I perform weekly for sanity and the preservation of inner peace. A 35 minute drive NE from my home takes me along Rt. 1 and across the Conowingo Dam that spans the Susquehanna River. The dam is approx. 10 miles from the river mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and I've spent many, many days over the years fishing the river below the dam for shad, catfish, white and yellow perch and rockfish. On the approach to the dam, in the early morning, I'm usually treated to a beautiful sunrise slightly to the right as the road turns to the north just below the Pennsylvania line. Yesterday I headed out to golf in the early morning, but a thick fog prevented any visual of the river. Returning, though, as the day turned beautifully sunny at 1:00PM, I was witness to hundreds of people on foot north of the dam and when I arrived to the beginning of the span I saw the most exhilarating and eerie scene. Like out of a disaster movie, the dam had opened 48 of it's 53 flood gates causing the river flow to be measured at 775,000 cubic feet per second (third highest on record). The water pounded the forest on the east bank tearing down trees and branches and the spray lifted well above the hydroelectric plant. Maryland State Police blocked Rt. 222, the road to Port Deposit, as the town was flooded caused by the opening of the flood gates. On the south side of the dam, Harford County Sheriff's deputies were on site to prevent folks on foot from descending to the Hydro Plant on the roadway. In the attached photo, the forest on the right side, below the dam, was under water and the island on the left was almost completely submerged.

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