Work began in June to remove the 127-year-old Hughesville Dam on the Musconetcong River.
It's not every day that a U.S. Cabinet official visits Warren County.
But that was the case Thursday as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell toured the $1.5 million Hughesville Dam removal project on the Musconetcong River.
Removal of the 150-feet-long dam between Pohatcong Township and Holland Township started in June -- the fourth dam removal since 2008 by the Musconetcong Watershed Association.
The dam used to generate hydropower but no longer does. Its removal is part of larger project to restore the 42-mile Musconetcong to a free-flowing state, Jewell said.
The dam was built in 1889.
Removal will reduce the risk of dam failure and upstream flooding, and restore access to migratory fish species such as eels, herring, American shad and striped bass from the Delaware River, officials said.
Biggest Lehigh Valley home building projects
Other agencies involved include the include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Office of Natural Resource Restoration and Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Funding came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state DEP, FishAmerica Foundation/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, Conservation Resources Inc. and Watershed Institute.
Jewell's visit was organized to highlight efforts by the Obama administration to work with local governments and private dam owners to remove obsolete dams, according to a news release.
The government has worked to remove more than 1,000 obsolete dams in the last century, with more than half of them being dismantled in the past 10 years, officials said.
Pohatcong Township Mayor James Kern, who participated in an invitation-only roundtable discussion among Jewell and environmental officials, said he was delighted by Jewell's visit.
"To have the U.S. Secretary of the Interior come to the township is a great honor and speaks to work done by the many volunteers and professionals working to keep our part of the United States' natural beauty intact," he said.
Jim Deegan may be reached at jdeegan@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_deegan. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.