A Citizen's Guide to Dams, Hydropower, and River Restoration in ...

Dam Removals: Three SuccessesThe East Machias River – Free-flowing and Safer“We gated the dam andposted no trespassing signsbut we still had troublekeeping the kids off.”Selectman Ken “Bucket” DavisIn January 2002, town officials from East Machias traveled toWashington, D.C. to receive a presidential award for successfullyremoving an abandoned, unsafe former hydroelectricdam on the East Machias river. A letter of congratulations fromPresident Bush commended the project team, which includedcivil engineers from the U.S. Air Force Reserve whohelped remove the dam from the river as a trainingexercise.Built in 1926 and owned by the town since the1960s, the East Machias Dam was an irresistible temptationto youth who often climbed on the structure, posinga potential liability for the town.“We gated the dam and posted no trespassing signsbut we still had trouble keeping the kids off,” saidSelectman Ken “Bucket” Davis. A lifelong resident ofthe area, Davis saw the dam as a costly liability and anegative impact on the town’s river and its historicfisheries.Davis remembered years past when the alewivesand sea-run smelt had run thick. Fishermen used thealewives as bait for lobster and to trawl for halibut.Alewives and smelt also provided food for striped bass,relieving pressure on young salmon which stripers alsoconsume.Although the dam had “fish ladders” that couldhelp certain fish species pass by, it was difficult for fishlike salmon to pass above the site. Waiting in eddiesbelow the dam, the fish were easy prey for predatorsand poachers.Built of hand-mixed concrete and steel by BangorHydro-Electric Company in 1926, the 230-foot widedam was one of several former dams that had blockedthis section of the river for over 150 years. By the1990s, it was the only obstruction from the river’s source inPocomoonshine Lake, near the Canadian border, all the way toMachias Bay. When Bangor Hydro was operating the dam as ahydroelectricfacility it was asignificantdeterrent to themigration ofsalmon and otheranadromous fishspecies.LiabilityIssuesIn the late 1990s,liability issuesprompted thetown to lookThe dam on the East Machias River had become afinancial liability to the town.seriously into removing the dam. Townspeople overwhelminglysupported an item on the town warrant to raise $5,000 toward adam removal project. With the help of the Atlantic Salmon Federation,the town attracted support from the Coastal America Partner-16 A Citizen’s Guide to River Restoration