MORNING SENTINEL • October 25, 2022
I have been a fishing guide on the Kennebec River for decades. I have lived in the watershed just as long. The Kennebec was once the most productive river in Maine for sea-run fish, like river herring, American shad and Atlantic salmon. The river below Waterville is once again very productive because of the removal of the Edwards and Fort Halifax dams. Restoration has stalled at Waterville because of Brookfield’s dams, which lack effective fish passage, both upstream and downstream. The first four dams on the river are not worth the harm they cause to the Kennebec and the entire Gulf of Maine. They generate a small amount of power but do a great deal of damage because they block access to so much of the historic spawning and rearing habitat for sea-run fish. The Kennebec and its fish belong to all Mainers, not just to Brookfield. It’s time for Brookfield to negotiate a deal to remove its four lower Kennebec dams. ~ Sean McCormick