MAINE PUBLIC • April 19, 2021
Earlier this month, state regulators backed off a proposed plan for managing the Kennebec River, whose cool upstream waters conservationists see as critical for the recovery of endangered Atlantic salmon. The plan included recommendations that the river's four hydroelectric dams be taken down — a move the dam's owners and other stakeholders say could wreak economic havoc. As the state begins a new stakeholder process, some are looking to successful dam removal efforts elsewhere in Maine that have restored historic sea-run fish populations and even encouraged new economic activity. But prospects of a similar outcome for the Kennebec are murky at best. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could set a new dynamic in motion later this month, when it is expected to ask federal scientists for a comprehensive review of just what the prospects really are for salmon recovery in the Kennebec River.