League of
Women Voters of the Upper Valley
Hanover,
NH, Norwich, VT and neighboring towns
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7/27/04 Home Page
>> talks at
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The
Connecticut River Watershed
- A
slide presentation by David Deen.
River Steward, Connecticut
River Watershed Council (CRWC) Summarized
by Ellen Blumberg. (Mr. Deen’s presentation related entirely to his
slides- without the slides, there may appear gaps in this summary)
- From the 2003 series "WATER: Quality? Quantity? Quandaries?"
sponsored by the LWVUV Natural
Resources Committee
The
Connecticut River Watershed Council- Five Decades of Advocacy
The
Council was founded in 1952 by a group of concerned citizens who
decided to take action to clean up a river so polluted it was then
called "the best landscaped sewer in New England". The Connecticut
River Watershed goes from the Connecticut Lakes in Northern New
Hampshire to Long Island Sound. The Main river is 410 miles long. The
watershed encompasses 11,2000 sq. miles where 2.5 million people live,
work and play. The River contributes 70% of the fresh water to Long
Island Sound. Our watershed is the largest riverine ecosystem in New
England.
Problems
in the Connecticut Watershed include erosion, dams, pollution,
overuse, misuse and water withdrawals.
Where
vegetation has been removed from the banks, erosion occurs and
soil is deposited on river bottoms. Where there is a good bottom of the
river, there is plenty of space between the rocks for water to
circulate and bring needed oxygen and food to aquatic organisms. When
there is a poor bottom, there is little space between cobble stones for
the flow of water due to siltation.
Fish
Species of Concern in the Watershed
- Anadromous
Species (those that come up the river from the sea to
breed): Atlantic salmon, American shad, blueblack herring, sea lamprey,
alewife, gizzard shad and hickory shad
- Catadromous
species (those that live in fresh water and go to sea to
sprawn)- American eel
- Amphidromous
species : shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, sea-run
brown trout, rainbow smelt, white perch and striped bass
- Potamodromous
species: all trout, bass, pickeral and walleye species.
Ecological
Impacts of Dams
- Change
the dynamic equilibrium of a river;
- Stop
in-stream fish migration for anadromous and resident species to
reach spawning habitat;
- Destroy
spawning habit for fish;
- Degrade
in-stream habitat for all aquatic species;
- Allow
sun to heat up the water driving down the dissolved oxygen levels.
Another
Way to View the Watershed
On the
main stem of the river there are 10 functioning hydroelectric
dams, 3 water storage dams at the Connecticut Lakes, and 3 breached
dams (2 in NH and 1 in CT)
The largest Hydro Electric Project, not only on the river but in New
England is Fifteen Miles Falls near Littleton, NH. It includes three
dams, Moore, Comerford and McIndoes. These dams affect 26 miles of
River and produce 291 MW of electricity.
The key provisions of a settlement agreement for this project include:
- Minimum
flows at the three dams
- Fisheries
enhancements in the tailraces at two dams
- Maximum
seasonal draw downs in the reservoirs- to protect breeding areas
- Conditioned
requirements for up and down stream fish passage
- Conservation
easement protection on project lands including land around
the Connecticut Lakes
- The
creation of a Mitigation and Enhancement Fund for River restoration
projects
- Transfer
in fee simple of the Sumner Falls lands
The Water Quality Provisions of the settlement include:
- Plans
to address dissolved gas, high turbidity and high temperature
conditions caused by the dams
- Plans
for mitigation of oxygen depletion in the reservoirs
- Plans
to mitigate the effects of toxins including mercury
There has also been set up the Fifteen Mile Falls (FMF) Mitigation and
Enhancement Fund. The ultimate goal of the fund is to compensate for
the impacts of the Fifteen Mile Falls Hydroelectric project on the
River and its ecosystem. The Fund is fueled by a percentage of the
income generated at the three hydroelectric dams that comprise FMF. The
eventual total amount in the Fund is unknowable at this time but the
minimum amount over 15 years is 7.5 million dollars. An initial deposit
into the Fund of 3 million dollars was made August 29, 2002. Of that
amount $750,000 was granted in 2002. The area covered by this fund is
from approximately where the White River enters the Connecticut north
to the Connecticut Lakes.
Grants from the Fund must pertain to one or more of the following
categories: River restoration work, wetland restoration, protection and
enhancement, and/or riverine shoreline protection.
In the stretch of the Connecticut River from Wilder, Vermont to Turner
Falls, Massachusetts, Sumner Falls is in the last free flowing reach of
river. Where there is white water there are white water enthusiasts.
Dams:
An overview
There
are more than 1000 dams in the Connecticut River and its
tributaries. This dam building has taken 3 centuries, but most were
built during the Industrial Revolution or later. Few streams,
regardless of their small size, have escaped dam building.
Most dams are no longer economic assets to society. Of the 1000 dams in
the watershed only a handful offer an economic benefit for society,
mostly the hydroelectric dams. The balance are "dead beat dams"- dams
that no longer serve the function for which they were built and for
which there are no new uses.
Dams impede migration of fish up stream. At the 5 lower most dams, fish
ladders provide the upstream access.
CRWC’s Migratory Fisheries Restoration Program goals are to open up the
tributaries of the CT River to fish migration, restore habitat for all
aquatic species- not just anadrmous and other fish species and to
expand the watershed’s food web. Destroying these small dams does not
produce ugly, smelly mud flats, but lets the river return to its
previous beautiful state. Many of these small dams are privately owned
and owners may not want to destroy them. They want the ambiance the
dams provide their property.
The American Eel- looks ugly and slimy but provides bio-diversity. It
is one of the most abundant freshwater fin fish in Southern New
England. The eels provide food for other species. They taste good- many
people eat them. Eel ways allow eels to get around dams.
Although there has been success of getting fish species to return to
the CT river, this is not true for the Atlantic salmon. One thought for
this has been that the salmon is most sensitive to temperature change.
This may be caused by global warming as the salmon is in trouble in
many areas and countries.
CRWC River Restoration Projects have included
- A
fishway and dam removal in CT
- A
dam removal just completed in NH
- A
removal in permitting in NH
- A
removal going to engineering in VT
- A
by-pass
- An
eel way and box culvert project all going to construction in MA.
CRWC is working with the VT and NH dam removal task forces that were
put in place with their assistance
CRWC has a dam removal citizens "how to" manual in production.
Dams that will never be removed are the hydroelectric dams and those
for flood control by the Corps of Engineers.
For additional information, visit the CRWC web site at: www.ctriver.org
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