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Owners of a breached dam on a tributary to the Kennebec River running through Waterville, Maine, have proposed rebuilding the dam and impounding 1.25 miles of the Messalonskee Stream. The stream enters the Kennebec about 20 miles above the head of tide in Augusta, Maine.
The Union Gas Dam was built in 1901. It was breached by its prior owners, FPL Energy in June of 2001 when a portion of the spillway collapsed. FPL Energy sold the dam this year to Maine Renewables, Inc. of Annapolis, Maryland, along with several active hydro dams on the stream.
The dams have destroyed almost all of the free flowing habitat on Messalonskee Stream since their construction 100 years ago. They block passage of migratory fish, and they continue to kill fish trying to migrate downstream. Currently, only about two miles of the Messalonskee Stream are not blocked by dams. In recent years, wild Atlantic salmon have been found spawning in the stream. In June 2004, several thousand blueback herring were observed spawning there as well. Prior to June, neither species was known to use the stream for spawning habitat.
American shad, American eel, sea lamprey, sea run brook trout, striped bass and rainbow smelt have begun to populate the stream during the five years after Edwards Dam was removed on the main stem of the Kennebec, restoring a free flow from Waterville to the Atlantic Ocean. Rebuilding the Union Gas Dam will flood most of the Messalonskee Stream that is now free flowing, destroying the riffle-pool structure created after the breach.
The Maine Council of the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is looking for assistance to fight the rebuilding of the dam. Friends of the Kennebec Salmon has prepared a slide show of the stream documenting part of its recover. It can be seen at www.kennebecriver.org.
You can contact the Maine Council of ASF at www.mainecouncilasf.org.