The Montsweag Brook Restoration Project entered a new phase last week as The Chewonki Foundation, owners of the Lower Montsweag Brook Dam, drained the impoundment, or pond, created by the dam’s construction in 1968.
According to Project Manager Dan Creek, the drainage, which began on Monday, May 24, is necessary in order to prepare a “pre-bid package” for contractors. Project consultants “need to see the entirety of the dam,” Creek said. In addition, drainage will allow Chewonki to begin “to establish vegetation” on the banks of the brook before invasive plant species move in.
According to a Chewonki press release, “As part of the 2008 Natural Resources Damages Restoration Plan and Settlement Agreement (NRDAR) between Maine Yankee and the State of Maine, Chewonki was given ownership of the dam and surrounding property along with the mandate to evaluate alternatives for restoring fish passage and riparian [river bank] habitat in the lower brook.”
Chewonki commissioned a feasibility study to achieve these goals and found “removal… would be the most effective and least expensive way to restore fish passage,” according to the press release.
According to Chewonki President Don Hudson, Chewonki still needs to secure site and shoreland zoning permits from Wiscasset and Woolwich and a blasting permit from Woolwich before demolition can proceed. Chewonki hopes to remove the dam in late summer.
Chewonki’s plan for the dam has been the subject of criticism from nearby landowners and other Wiscasset residents who object to the pond’s destruction.
Reginald Donkling owns land on the Wiscasset side of Montsweag Brook. Donkling called The Lincoln County News shortly after discovering the drainage.
“It’s a mess,” Donkling said. “They shouldn’t have been allowed to do it.”
Donkling and Dale Skillin, the son of Pearl Skillin, another nearby landowner, both expressed their belief that, if an individual drained the pond, they would be arrested.
“Everything is gone,” Donkling said. “Everything is messed up.”
According to Hudson, however, the pond was “an ecological disaster.”
In a May 29 email to The Lincoln County News, Hudson said “the ecological benefits of restoration far, far outweigh the loss of the pond and the habitat that it represents.”
“It’s a very beautiful place. It’s a lovely pond,” said Hudson, but many of the species that live there, including the bass and crappie mourned by nearby residents, are “invasive,” he said.
“The animals that live in the uplands… will continue to visit the brook, including beaver, mink, otter, and turtles. The fish species and some of the microorganisms and macro-invertebrates (notably aquatic insects) that prefer to live in pond environments will be replaced from upstream populations by an association of animals and plants that are adapted to live in river and stream environments,” Hudson said.
The restoration is about more than just fish, Hudson said. “It is just as important for sediments and nutrients to move from the uplands in to the estuaries as it is for fish to be able to move in both directions – from the uplands to the sea and back again. At least six species of diadromous fish are denied access to the Montsweag Brook watershed by the dam.
“Most of those species are part of the food chain of the larger predatory species like cod and haddock in the near ocean. Unnecessary barriers on streams and rivers contribute to a breakdown in ecological processes in the near ocean,” Hudson said.
In addition to ecological concerns, the dam, due to insurance costs, puts a heavy monetary burden on Chewonki. “We don’t want to own the dam,” Hudson said. “It’s a huge financial liability for us.”
In a related matter, Hudson said he spoke with Wiscasset attorney Elliot Field on Thursday, May 27. Field represents Pearl Skillin. The Skillins met with representatives of Chewonki, the Maine Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in January after contractors cut trees on the Skillin’s property due to a surveying error.
According to Hudson, Chewonki is waiting for Field to submit a proposal for compensation. “We look forward to receiving it,” he said.
Field said the Skillins will consider a number of factors before submitting their proposal. A forester will conduct an estimate of the timber value and an appraiser will estimate the effect of the cutting on the property’s value. The Skillins will also ask Chewonki to pay for cleanup of “a big mess” at the site, Field said.
“The one that really bothers me is a 41-year-old Fir tree,” Dale Skillin said. Skillin expressed continued frustration with the surveying process. “They’re making up their own boundaries. What I want from Chewonki is to get the boundaries right,” he said.
Inquiries to the Maine Forest Service, who arranged the meeting in January, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, who, according to Hudson, made the surveying errors that led to the errant cutting, were not immediately returned.