Welcome To Merrill Creek
Merrill Creek Reservoir, locaded in Harmony township, Warren County, New Jersey is a 650-acre artificial lake designed to hold 15 billion gallons of water that is surrounded by 290 acres of protected woodlands and fields.
Merrill Creek is connected to the Delaware River, about 3 miles via a tunnel. The earthen Merrill Creek Dam with a height of 280 feet and a length at its crest of 1,140 feet, was built in 1988 by a consortium of seven electric utilities, under the mandate of the Delaware River Basin Commission. It replaced the river water lost through evaporation in the cooling of 14 power plants.
The reservoir draws water from the Delaware in springtime, when river flow is abundant, and restores it in the summer, when flow is usually meager and - compunding the problem - demand for electricity for air-conditioning is high. In addition, by maintaining an ample Delaware River flow, seawater intrusion into the aquifers that provide drinking water to so many South New Jersey communities. Construction cost $217 million and was one of the largest construction projects in the United States in 1986-87.
The lake is about 225 feet deep, making it the deepest man-made lake in New Jersey.
The depth allows for lake trout to exist and other trout to exist year round.
Since 2018 , the lake has been stocked with landlocked Atlantic salmon.
Not everyone were for building Merrill Creek, alot of people were against it. Municipal, civil and church groups in the two communities - Stewartsville and Lopotcong Township - rallied to oppose the project and violence erupted.
Heavy equipment was sabotaged, boulders were strewn across access roads and punches were thrown at a project site manager.
A home owner immediately below the dam site and an opponent of the reservoir, joined a citizens' advisory council established by the utilities to sound out local sentiment.
For this, some of his neighbors regarded him as a traitor. According to local newspapers, bullets shattered his car windshield and his home was burned.
TO LOG THIS CACHE:
To claim a find for this Virtual Cache, please message the CO with the required 3 answers within 7 days of logging this find.
WAYPOINT #1 N040° 44.460 W075° 06.524
1. Post a picture of yourself standing by the metal dock, your GPS or something else of "you" with the BIG object/building in the background.
Here, I provide an example.
WAYPOINT #2
N040° 44.490
W075° 06.483
2. Describe what is there.
WAYPOINT #3
N040° 44.513
W075° 06.531
3. Describe what is there.
Please Note: If you are logging answers for a group, you need to include everyone's geocaching name with your answers.
Disclaimer: This Virtual is meant to be seen at the location (in person) to answer the questions. I reserve the right to question and/or delete any logs that do not meet this criteria.
Sourse: Wikipedia and New York Times
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.