4 Dams Likely To Be Removed On Maine’s Kennebec River

The Sandy River at its confluence with the Kennebec River in Norridgewock, Maine. Photo courtesy of the Nature Conservancy/Jerry and Marcy Monkman

Atlantic salmon and other native fish could soon be making their way back into portions of the Kennebec River thanks to a recent conservation agreement.

Fall along the Kennebec River in Maine. Photo courtesy the Nature Conservancy.

The Nature Conservancy is purchasing four hydropower dams on the lower Kennebec River in Maine with the intention to remove the dams and open 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.

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.

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.