PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 23, 2021
Today the Kennebec is a tale of two rivers. Downstream of the Lockwood Dam in Waterville, the Kennebec and its tributaries teem with alewives, blueback herring, American shad and sturgeon that have returned after the removal of the Edwards and Fort Halifax dams. Upstream, Lockwood is just the first of four dams salmon need to pass before they reach the exceptional spawning habitat in the Sandy River. We have been trying to get the dam owners to address the failures for nearly two decades. They repeatedly got permission to do nothing. Time is running out for Kennebec salmon. The species is on the verge of extinction in the U.S., and federal and state agencies finally appear to have lost patience. The fate of Atlantic salmon in the U.S. depends on restoring them in the Kennebec. These outdated dams should go. ~ Jeff Reardon, Trout Unlimited, and John Burrows, Atlantic Salmon Federation