SESSION D:

Title: Penobscot River Restoration Project — Why Dam Removal?

Authors: Cheryl Daigle¹ and Jeff Reardon^2
1Penobscot River Restoration Trust, Cheryl@penobscotriver.org
²Trout Unlimited, jreardon@tu.org

Abstract:

A unique partnership has formed to rebalance fisheries restoration and hydroelectric power production on the Penobscot River. The partnership, which includes dam owner PPL-Maine, the Penobscot Nation, state and federal agencies, and a coalition of environmental groups, proposes to remove the two lowest dams on the Penobscot River and decommission a third dam to construct a bypass channel around it.

This presentation will present the rationale for this approach in terms of both fish passage and energy production. It will address three key questions — why the proposal involves dam removal as opposed to improved fishways; why the proposal includes these three particular dams; and how these changes on the river will alter both energy production and fisheries restoration plans.