October 27, 2013 — Friday marked the first time in 180 years when water from the Penobscot River flowed through a section where the Coffer Dam used to be, behind the now removed Veazie Dam. Volunteers worked on the shores to help save stranded, dewatered mussels.
The removals of the Coffer Dam, Great Works Dam and, most recently, the Veazie Dam have set into motion the restoration of the Penobscot River. The project began in 2009 when baseline assessments commenced and is set to be completed in 2014.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) invested $7.3 million through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to jumpstart the river restoration.
The Veazie Dam removal will help restore about 225 acres of in-stream habitats, 65 acres of streamside habitat and will reestablish the connection and function of 188,000 acres of wetland habitats, according to the Bangor Daily News.
By the spring, 11 species of fish will be able to swim upstream for the first time in 180 years, according to Josh Royte, Maine’s senior conservation planner at the Nature Conservancy.
“Ecologically, there will be this burst of energy,” Royte said, also saying that the health of the river system directly impacts the people living around it.
This is especially true for the Penobscot Nation, whose tribal fishing rights, established in a treaty, have been squandered due to the lack of fish in the river.
Read the full story at The Maine Campus