Improving fish passage at the Head Tide Dam in Alna and the Coopers Mills Dam in Whitefield has raised issues unique to each community. With engineering firms contracted and data collection initiated, the dam committees of Whitefield and Alna are coming closer to presenting a visual representation of possible alternatives for their respective dams, which address the unique concerns of their communities, to the public.
Based on the feedback received, plans for the dams will either be pushed forward for a vote at Whitefield’s and Alna’s annual town meetings in March, or return to the drawing board. Visual renderings of possibilities for the dams should be complete by November, with public presentations to follow, Andrew Goode, of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, said.
Inter-Fluve, a river restoration and engineering firm, is charged with collecting data and developing a rendering of options for the two dams. Nick Nelson is leading the charge on the Head Tide Dam in Alna for Inter-Fluve. Mike Burke, of Inter-Fluve, was originally slated to do the work, but due to claims of conflict of interest because he lives close to the Head Tide Dam, has stepped back from Alna’s project.
Burke is serving as project manager for the Coopers Mills Dam in Whitefield, Nelson said. Kleinschmidt, an engineering, regulatory, and environmental consulting firm, will review the renderings to evaluate the structural integrity of the alternatives under development, Nelson said.
Goode and Steve Patton, of the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association, approached both the Alna and Whitefield boards of selectmen in December 2014 about restoring the natural habitat of Atlantic salmon and other sea-run species in the Sheepscot River watershed through the removal or modification of dams on the river.
The Head Tide Dam in Alna and the Coopers Mills Dam in Whitefield are both on the Sheepscot River and are both owned by the town they are located in. In March, the boards of selectmen in both municipalities voted to form committees to work with Goode and develop a vision for the future of the dams.
The Atlantic Salmon Federation has proposed funding the removal of the Coopers Mills Dam in Whitefield, according to a Coopers Mills Dam Committee status report. However, a dry hydrant located behind the Coopers Mills Dam has complicated the project and raised questions about fire safety in Whitefield.
The dam is deteriorating and has inoperable, open gates that prevent it from fully impounding water, according to the committee’s report. Additional engineering reports are under development in Whitefield to understand the feasibility of moving the dry hydrant upriver if the dam were to be removed. The committee is debating repairing the dam to enhance firefighters’ use of the current dry hydrant or removing the dam and moving the dry hydrant.
The Atlantic Salmon Federation and the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association would fund the dams’ removal and the relocation of the dry hydrant, however, would not fund efforts to repair the dam, according to the status report.
The Head Tide Dam in Alna was conveyed to the town in 1964 from the Jewett family with a stipulation in the deed that it not be destroyed. Meeting Oct. 21, the Head Tide Dam Committee spoke about mistrust in the town of the committee and rumors and speculation about an outside group attempting to remove the dam.
The mistrust and suspicion will be a hurdle to overcome in gaining approval for a modification to the Head Tide Dam, committee members said. Matt Bernier, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, attended the Head Tide Dam Committee meeting to speak about the interest of his organization in the restoration of the Sheepscot River watershed.
According to Bernier, some of the most exciting work being done by his organization is culvert replacement to improve fish passage. The projects enable municipalities to tap into outside funding to improve their infrastructure, while simultaneously improving the environment.
Previous proposals to fund culvert replacement in Alna have been unsuccessful, Bernier said, because of the impediment to fish passage caused by the Head Tide Dam. According to Bernier, in the early 1950s, environmental organizations were involved in negotiations with Allen Jewett over the removal of the Head Tide Dam, which Jewett owned at the time.
In a compromise, Jewett made modifications to the dam to allow for Atlantic salmon passage, Bernier said. The Head Tide Dam, however, was the end of the line for American shad, another river-run species, Bernier said.
The negotiations in the early 1950s may have played a part in the deed restriction on the Head Tide Dam when Jewett conveyed it to the town, committee members said. “That kind of fits with the condition on the deed,” Alna Third Selectman Doug Baston, who was in attendance, said. “Logically, it falls together.”
After reviewing the visual representation of possible alternatives for the dams at their November meeting, the Head Tide Dam Committee will schedule a public presentation of the renderings. The Coopers Mills Dam Committee is on a similar timeline, Goode said.
