Removing the dams will clear the way for salmon to return to the Kennebec.
The Nature Conservancy has reached a historic agreement to purchase four hydropower dams on the lower Kennebec River in Maine, which they intend to remove, opening up hundreds of miles of the river to native fish.
The conservation group reached the agreement with Brookfield Renewable, which operates the Lockwood, Hydro-Kennebec, Shawmut, and Weston dams. Brookfield Renewable will continue to operate the dams while the Conservancy goes through the process of decommissioning them.
Officials with the Nature Conservancy said a new, independent, non-profit organization—the Kennebec River Restoration Trust—is currently being formed to take ownership of the dams, oversee operations of the hydroelectric facilities, and manage a multi-year restoration and redevelopment process in close collaboration with local communities.
Prior to dams being built along the river, the Kennebec River flowed freely from Moosehead Lake in Maine’s north woods to Merrymeeting Bay, one of the most productive estuaries in the country, and out to the Gulf of Maine. Tens of millions of sea-run fish—including American shad, river herring and Atlantic salmon—returned to spawn in its waters every year before heading back to the ocean.
This natural migration helped sustain enormous fisheries in the Gulf of Maine, such as cod, as well as other wildlife and birds, like eagles and osprey.
Nature Conservancy officials said the Kennebec River is vital to the Indigenous Wabanaki people, for whom the river and its sea-run fish have been central to culture and sustenance for millennia.
During the past two centuries, dams have been built on the Kennebec to provide hydropower. Today, the river and its tributaries host 20 hydroelectric dams.
As a result, despite having some of the best Atlantic salmon spawning habitat in the country, the Kennebec’s run of salmon has dropped from hundreds of thousands each year to nearly zero.
Nature Conservancy officials said the Kennebec can be home to one of the largest river restoration efforts in the nation, reconnecting over 800 miles of river and stream habitat.
The Kennebec River supports all 12 sea-run fish species native to Maine, including American shad, the threatened and endangered Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon, and the endangered Atlantic salmon.
The Sandy River, a significant tributary of the Kennebec, offers some of the best Atlantic salmon spawning habitat in the country. Salmon cannot currently reach the Sandy because of the four lower Kennebec dams. Nature Conservancy officials said biologists have concluded that reestablishing access to the Sandy River is the best hope for restoring Atlantic salmon.
Nature Conservancy officials said people need only look to another Maine river—the Penobscot—to see the potential in removing the dams.
On the Penobscot River, the removal of the Veazie and Great Works dams demonstrated the potential of dam removal to restore ecosystems and advance river-dependent economies, cultures, and livelihoods.
Before the dams were removed on the mainstem of the Penobscot River, the count of river herring travelling upstream to spawn hovered between a few hundred and a few thousand per year.
Only a decade after the dams were removed, it’s estimated that 6.8 million fish made the trip.
Another example is found on the Kennebec itself. The removal of the Edwards Dam in 1999 on the lower Kennebec helped demonstrate what was possible through river restoration.
Today, the restored part of the river, and its tributary, the Sebasticook, support the nation’s largest run of alewives and blueback herring, and one of the highest concentrations of bald eagles in the lower 48.
The agreement has been widely applauded by Maine conservation groups and anglers.
“Mainers deserve a thriving, healthy Kennebec River, and this agreement marks an important step in a long journey toward its restoration,” said Sean Mahoney, Conservation Law Foundation Vice President for Maine. “Letting the river run free can help bring back millions of sea-run fish, preserve our valuable state fisheries, and improve the health of the Gulf of Maine. Restoring the Kennebec will take time and close collaboration with communities and partners, but the benefits for both our environment and our economy are undeniable.”
“When I was a student at Colby College in Waterville in the 1960s, the Kennebec was an open sewer. Fumes from the river literally peeled the paint off buildings along the river,” said Steve Brooke, a retired Senior Planner from the Maine State Planning Office and a Trout Unlimited member.
Brooke said the river has come alive since the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the removal of the Edwards Dam in 1999.
“This agreement can expand this rebirth upstream into the Sandy River, which means a healthier river to feed Maine’s economy,” said Brooke. “This is literally a dream come true.”
