The Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine was torn down in 1999, releasing a torrent of water. The return of fish to the river was recently celebrated.
(Robert F. Bukaty/ Associated Press/ File 1993)
The Green Blog
Dam's demolition enlivens a river in Maine
Excerpts from the Globe's environmental blog.
The Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine was torn down in 1999, releasing a torrent of water. The return of fish to the river was recently celebrated.
(Robert F. Bukaty/ Associated Press/ File 1993)
Globe Staff
/
July 6, 2009
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Ten years ago last week, a demolition crew in Augusta, Maine, began tearing down a 160-year-old dam on the Kennebec River and made history.
It was the first time that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had ruled that the ecological value of a free-flowing river was greater than the economic value of a dam - marking the end of a bitter, decade-long fight over the dam’s fate.
Now, one of Maine’s great rivers, has come back to life. Two million alewives returned to the Kennebec this year, one of the largest river herring runs in the United States. More anglers are fishing the river for bass and other species. Atlantic sturgeon, which can grow up to 10 feet long, making them the Kennebec’s largest fish, are regularly seen leaping out of the river during their mid-summer spawning migration. Canoeists and kayakers paddle along the scenic waterway.
The dam’s removal was touted at the time as a symbol of a new era. Environmentalists predicted dozens - perhaps more - dams would be removed. That hasn’t happened. While many dams have been dismantled, the commission has not ordered the removal of any for environmental reasons because of the objections of dam owners.
Still, the demolition of the Kennebec dam marked a pivotal point in restoring rivers, one that has scientists, advocacy groups, and the government looking to remove more dams to bring back fish - or at least to install more sophisticated ladders for fish to help them get past the artificial barriers.
Chasing the sun
My friend Polly called from Corinth, Vt., last week. She wanted to know if it was sunny where I was. That was a big no in Providence. And the answer was no again a few hours later as I drove into Hyannis.She called other friends, desperate to find a place to bask - even for a few minutes - in the sun. Polly did find sun that day, in St. Johnsbury. For about an hour. Then, of course, the rain fell.
Perhaps the most annoying part of the endless gray backdrop was that, with little warning, the sun briefly appeared. Tourists returning from Martha’s Vineyard last week bragged that they caught a few rays - as if 10 minutes of sun was a New England event to celebrate.
Alan Dunham, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the recent gray weather came from moisture-filled low pressure systems that were stalled over us.
He cautions against chasing the sun. “You can be in Boston and you just heard it’s sunny in Springfield, but by the time you get there, it’s cloudy again,’’ he said.
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