Edwards Dam
Encyclopedia
Edwards Dam was a hydroelectric dam on the Kennebec River
in the U.S. state of Maine
. It was located in Augusta, Maine
, about 40 miles (64.4 km) upstream from the Atlantic Ocean
. Built in 1837 of timber and concrete, it was 917 feet (279.5 m) long and 24 feet (7.3 m) high. It is most famous for its removal in 1999, the first removal of a hydroelectric dam by the government against the wishes of the dam owner.
The dam originally had a fish ladder
, but it was destroyed by a flood shortly after construction. It suffered catastrophic breaches in 1839, 1846 and 1855. In 1999, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) refused the renewal of the dam licence due to excessive negative environmental impacts, and the dam was removed, freeing a 17 miles (27.4 km) stretch of the Kennebec River that had been submerged for 162 years.
The dam was located on the Kennebec River
, a river that flows 150 miles (241.4 km) south from Moosehead Lake
, draining roughly one-fifth of the state of Maine. Most of the river's watershed consists of smooth and lightly to moderately developed land, encompassing many small and large lakes. Notable cities along the river include Skowhegan, Waterville
, Augusta
, Gardiner
, and Bath
. The Kennebec is tidal as far north as Augusta.
The Kennebec River before the construction of Edwards Dam was extremely important as a spawning ground for Atlantic fish. Its importance, in that time, could be compared to that of the Hudson River
and Chesapeake Bay
. The estuary
at the mouth of the Kennebec was a congregation of islands and salt marshes that provided excellent spawning ground for young fish, namely sturgeon
and salmon
.
, river herring, striped bass
and sturgeon
, plummeted. The local fishing industry was the most heavily hit, and completely disappeared by 1867, 30 years after the construction of Edwards Dam. A series of fish ladders intended to help fish migrate past dams was installed, but were useless. The anadromous fish population practically vanished.
However, despite the disappearance of fish populations upstream of the dam, tiny remaining populations existed below the dam. A commercial eel fishery (similar to a fish farm) was opened in response to the declining population of American eel
.
s, which made use of the abundant lumber in the area. These paper mills severely polluted the river, which led to the demise of the last of the striped bass. Towns rose along the banks of the Kennebec in response to the construction of these paper mills. Eventually, by the 1950s, raw sewage flowed into the river in amounts excessive enough to create a strong stench. The river became choked by logs from logging operations upstream, creating stagnation. Oxygen levels in the water plunged, creating major fish kills in 1947, 1957, 1963, and 1965. Indeed, it was said that "the windows of the Maine State House near the river were kept shut during the hot summer months to keep out the river’s foul odor."
The Edwards Dam's license expired in 1997, and the dam owners wished to renew it. Instead, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) refused to allow them to renew the license. This was the first incidence of this in the history of the United States. All of this was linked to a 1986 Federal law that requires to "balance the environmental impact of a dam against the value of the electricity it produces" to be monitored by the FERC. Edwards Dam did not pass this requirement. FERC offered two choices to the dam owners:
Because the Edwards Dam did not serve any of the purposes of flood control
, irrigation
, or substantial hydropower
production, there was much more purpose to bring it down. Less than one-thousandth of Maine's electricity needs, or 3.5 megawatts, depended on Edwards Dam. Only four people relied on income generated by the dam for pay.
Money to remove the Edwards Dam was provided by Bath Iron Works
and the Kennebec Hydro Developers Group, which were dam owners upstream. This sum totaled $7.25 million USD. Upstream fish passage projects were postponed in return for this offer.
, about 60 feet (18.3 m) long, was built upstream of the Edwards Dam. The sixty feet of the dam it sheltered was dynamited. This temporary dam was removed on July 1, 1999, which reduced the water level in the reservoir by fifty percent. Then, a 200 feet (61 m) cofferdam was constructed to enable the removal of another dam section in the same way. After the removal of this dam section, the Kennebec River returned to its original free-flowing status, the first time in 162 years. The remaining 657 feet (200.3 m) of the dam was removed manually. This debris was used to fill an intake for the hydroelectric powerhouse as well as fill to redevelop the dam site into a park.
will suffer from the re-introduced striped bass, which tend to feed on young smallmouth bass. An increase in raptor
populations, such as osprey
s, bald eagle
s, heron
s, cormorant
s, and kingfisher
s, will be evident.
Human activities will also benefit from the dam removal. The exposure of rapids and the return of native fish species allows many recreational activities, including canoeing
, kayaking
, whitewater rafting, and fishing
. An estimated $48 million USD is generated annually just from increased sport fishing.
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
in the U.S. state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. It was located in Augusta, Maine
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...
, about 40 miles (64.4 km) upstream from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Built in 1837 of timber and concrete, it was 917 feet (279.5 m) long and 24 feet (7.3 m) high. It is most famous for its removal in 1999, the first removal of a hydroelectric dam by the government against the wishes of the dam owner.
The dam originally had a fish ladder
Fish ladder
A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass or fish steps, is a structure on or around artificial barriers to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration. Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps into the waters on...
, but it was destroyed by a flood shortly after construction. It suffered catastrophic breaches in 1839, 1846 and 1855. In 1999, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the United States federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, and oil pipeline rates...
(FERC) refused the renewal of the dam licence due to excessive negative environmental impacts, and the dam was removed, freeing a 17 miles (27.4 km) stretch of the Kennebec River that had been submerged for 162 years.
Geography
The dam was located on the Kennebec River
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
, a river that flows 150 miles (241.4 km) south from Moosehead Lake
Moosehead Lake
Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine and the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. Situated in the Longfellow Mountains in the Maine Highlands Region, the lake is the source of the Kennebec River. Towns that border the lake include Greenville to the south and...
, draining roughly one-fifth of the state of Maine. Most of the river's watershed consists of smooth and lightly to moderately developed land, encompassing many small and large lakes. Notable cities along the river include Skowhegan, Waterville
Waterville
Waterville is the name of several places.In Russia* Waterville, St.-Petersburg, a water park attached to the Park Inn Pribaltiyskaya HotelIn the United States:* Waterville, Iowa* Waterville, Kansas* Waterville, Maine* Waterville, Minnesota...
, Augusta
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...
, Gardiner
Gardiner
-Settlements:Canada* Gardiner, OntarioUnited States* Gardiner, Maine* Gardiner, Montana* Gardiner , New York** Gardiner , New York* Gardiner, Washington* West Gardiner, Maine-Geographical features:Antarctica...
, and Bath
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
. The Kennebec is tidal as far north as Augusta.
Pre-dam
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
and Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
. The estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
at the mouth of the Kennebec was a congregation of islands and salt marshes that provided excellent spawning ground for young fish, namely sturgeon
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...
and salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
.
Construction and impacts
In 1837, the Edwards Dam was built across the Kennebec River, just shy of the limit of tidal influence. Made of timber and concrete, it extended 917 feet (279.5 m) across the river and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. Its reservoir stretched 17 miles (27.4 km) upstream, and covered 1143 acres (4.6 km²). Immediately after its construction, the population of spawning fish, including but not limited to, Atlantic salmonAtlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
, river herring, striped bass
Striped bass
The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire...
and sturgeon
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...
, plummeted. The local fishing industry was the most heavily hit, and completely disappeared by 1867, 30 years after the construction of Edwards Dam. A series of fish ladders intended to help fish migrate past dams was installed, but were useless. The anadromous fish population practically vanished.
However, despite the disappearance of fish populations upstream of the dam, tiny remaining populations existed below the dam. A commercial eel fishery (similar to a fish farm) was opened in response to the declining population of American eel
American eel
The American eel, Anguilla rostrata, is a catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. It has a snake-like body with a small sharp pointed head. It is brown on top and a tan-yellow color on the bottom. It has sharp pointed teeth but no pelvic fins...
.
Pollution
Edwards Dam was originally built to serve the needs of paper millPaper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
s, which made use of the abundant lumber in the area. These paper mills severely polluted the river, which led to the demise of the last of the striped bass. Towns rose along the banks of the Kennebec in response to the construction of these paper mills. Eventually, by the 1950s, raw sewage flowed into the river in amounts excessive enough to create a strong stench. The river became choked by logs from logging operations upstream, creating stagnation. Oxygen levels in the water plunged, creating major fish kills in 1947, 1957, 1963, and 1965. Indeed, it was said that "the windows of the Maine State House near the river were kept shut during the hot summer months to keep out the river’s foul odor."
Removal
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the United States federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, and oil pipeline rates...
(FERC) refused to allow them to renew the license. This was the first incidence of this in the history of the United States. All of this was linked to a 1986 Federal law that requires to "balance the environmental impact of a dam against the value of the electricity it produces" to be monitored by the FERC. Edwards Dam did not pass this requirement. FERC offered two choices to the dam owners:
- Remove the dam
- Spend $8.9 million USD to build a fish ladder and a further $1 million USD to help repair the environmental impacts.
Because the Edwards Dam did not serve any of the purposes of flood control
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
, irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
, or substantial hydropower
Hydropower
Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
production, there was much more purpose to bring it down. Less than one-thousandth of Maine's electricity needs, or 3.5 megawatts, depended on Edwards Dam. Only four people relied on income generated by the dam for pay.
Money to remove the Edwards Dam was provided by Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...
and the Kennebec Hydro Developers Group, which were dam owners upstream. This sum totaled $7.25 million USD. Upstream fish passage projects were postponed in return for this offer.
Removal process
Several stages were involved in the removal of the Edwards Dam. A gravel cofferdamCofferdam
A cofferdam is a temporary enclosure built within, or in pairs across, a body of water and constructed to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out, creating a dry work environment for the major work to proceed...
, about 60 feet (18.3 m) long, was built upstream of the Edwards Dam. The sixty feet of the dam it sheltered was dynamited. This temporary dam was removed on July 1, 1999, which reduced the water level in the reservoir by fifty percent. Then, a 200 feet (61 m) cofferdam was constructed to enable the removal of another dam section in the same way. After the removal of this dam section, the Kennebec River returned to its original free-flowing status, the first time in 162 years. The remaining 657 feet (200.3 m) of the dam was removed manually. This debris was used to fill an intake for the hydroelectric powerhouse as well as fill to redevelop the dam site into a park.
Restoration
Despite several negative visual and environmental factors at first, the ecosystem will eventually heal itself. Initially after the removal of the dam, barren riverbanks and muddy water were evident along the lower 17 miles (27.4 km) of the Kennebec. Introduced smallmouth bassSmallmouth bass
The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
will suffer from the re-introduced striped bass, which tend to feed on young smallmouth bass. An increase in raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
populations, such as osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
s, bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
s, cormorant
Cormorant
The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s, and kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
s, will be evident.
Human activities will also benefit from the dam removal. The exposure of rapids and the return of native fish species allows many recreational activities, including canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
, kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
, whitewater rafting, and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. An estimated $48 million USD is generated annually just from increased sport fishing.