Deal reached to remove Saccarappa Falls dams in Westbrook
Photo / James McCarthy
A school of alewives make their way up the fish ladder at the Brunswick hydroelectric dam on the Androscoggin River. This migratory fish species is among those that would benefit from the removal of two Saccarappa Falls dams and the construction of a fish passage.
A long-in-the-works settlement agreement has been reached between two nonprofit groups and the city of Westbrook, Sappi Fine Paper, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which will lead to the removal of two dams at Saccarappa Falls and the construction of a fish passage.
Removal of the two dams in Westbrook will eliminate a significant barrier to migratory fish, once counted in the millions on the Presumpscot River, and will open a large segment of prime spawning habitat to several species of sea-run fish, according to a news release.
“It is an agreement we can all be very proud of,” said Michael Shaughnessy, president of Friends of the Presumpscot River, in a prepared statement. “When the dams are removed and fish passage finally constructed, we will have a wonderful result for the river and for the people who live in the Presumpscot’s watershed.”
The agreement, which must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Maine DEP, is the latest in a series of actions that have restored the water quality of, and access to, the Presumpscot River over the last three decades. They include the removal of the Smelt Hill dam in Falmouth in 2002, a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the provisions of the FERC license for five of Sappi’s Presumpscot dams, and the first proceeding by the State of Maine to require that a dam owner install fish passages at the Cumberland Mills dam just downriver from Saccarappa Falls, according to a news release.
“Restoring the productivity of the fish populations in the Presumpscot is vital, not just for those who fish along the river, but also for the health of our fishing industry in Casco Bay and the Gulf of Maine. Migratory fish like alewives and bluebacks are critical bait for the lobster fishery and key to the entire food system,” Sean Mahoney, Maine director for the Conservation Law Foundation, said in a prepared statement.
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