Michael Shaughnessy, board president at the Friends of the Presumpscot River, gave a talk at the Baxter Memorial Library on the evening of Tuesday, July 8. Shaughnessy is a professor emeritus at USM and is also a member of the Westbrook City Council. He updated the audience on recent developments regarding his organization’s efforts to promote the restoration of the Presumpscot River, which includes its entire length from Sebago Lake all the way to where it flows into Casco Bay at Martin’s Point near Falmouth Foreside.

Since the 2021 completion of the long-anticipated removal of the Saccarappa Dam near downtown Westbrook, the FOPR group has been focusing its attention primarily on the two dams which are next upstream, Mallison Falls Dam and Little Falls Dam, which are located between Gorham and Windham. Shaughnessy pointed out that the Little River (which drains much of the central and northern sections of Gorham) flows into the Presumpscot about a mile south of Mallison Falls, meaning that the Little River and tributaries are now accessible to ocean-run fish.

He added that, after several years of FOPR advocacy, the State of Maine is now stocking the Little River with blueback herring. This species of herring is considered a signature species, as large numbers of bluebacks indicate that a river or stream is a viable location for other species of ocean-run fish, such as alewives and salmon. When Mallison Falls and Little Falls were most recently relicensed, a legal agreement was reached which provided that the owners of those two upstream dams would be required to install significant fish passage infrastructure to both dams, once it was documented that at least 24,000 bluebacks per year were returning to the Little River, which Shaughnessy estimated could happen in four to five years. He added that both dams have not been producing any hydro power for some time, so no federal approval would be needed for their removal.
Shaughnessy then pointed to another important recent occurrence, the unplanned draining of Dundee Pond (upstream from Dundee Dam) during part of 2024. This apparently happened due to the failure of one of Dundee Dam’s sluice gates during repairs. This event temporarily restored part of the original flowage of the Presumpscot for about four months during the spring and summer of last year, before the sluices were repaired. Shaughnessy mentioned the rapid emergence of grasses growing along the old riverbanks, as well as the renewed flowing of adjacent streams and waterfalls. He cited these as examples of the Presumpscot valley’s potential for rejuvenating itself into a more diverse natural ecosystem once all or most of the dams are removed at some future time.

At another point in the talk, Shaughnessy stated that the average age of a hydro dam in the United States currently is 61 years, and that the current estimate for the appropriate lifespan of a hydro dam is 100 years. (The Dundee Dam is 112 years old, as it was constructed in 1913.) Shaughnessy also mentioned that the current daily electricity output of all the dams on the Presumpscot is approximately eight megawatts when all the active dams are online, which he said is considered low compared to other hydroelectric projects across the country.Michael Shaughnessy, board president at the Friends of the Presumpscot River, gave a talk at the Baxter Memorial Library on the evening of Tuesday, July 8. Shaughnessy is a professor emeritus at USM and is also a member of the Westbrook City Council. He updated the audience on recent developments regarding his organization’s efforts to promote the restoration of the Presumpscot River, which includes its entire length from Sebago Lake all the way to where it flows into Casco Bay at Martin’s Point near Falmouth Foreside.

Since the 2021 completion of the long-anticipated removal of the Saccarappa Dam near downtown Westbrook, the FOPR group has been focusing its attention primarily on the two dams which are next upstream, Mallison Falls Dam and Little Falls Dam, which are located between Gorham and Windham. Shaughnessy pointed out that the Little River (which drains much of the central and northern sections of Gorham) flows into the Presumpscot about a mile south of Mallison Falls, meaning that the Little River and tributaries are now accessible to ocean-run fish.

He added that, after several years of FOPR advocacy, the State of Maine is now stocking the Little River with blueback herring. This species of herring is considered a signature species, as large numbers of bluebacks indicate that a river or stream is a viable location for other species of ocean-run fish, such as alewives and salmon. When Mallison Falls and Little Falls were most recently relicensed, a legal agreement was reached which provided that the owners of those two upstream dams would be required to install significant fish passage infrastructure to both dams, once it was documented that at least 24,000 bluebacks per year were returning to the Little River, which Shaughnessy estimated could happen in four to five years. He added that both dams have not been producing any hydro power for some time, so no federal approval would be needed for their removal.
Shaughnessy then pointed to another important recent occurrence, the unplanned draining of Dundee Pond (upstream from Dundee Dam) during part of 2024. This apparently happened due to the failure of one of Dundee Dam’s sluice gates during repairs. This event temporarily restored part of the original flowage of the Presumpscot for about four months during the spring and summer of last year, before the sluices were repaired. Shaughnessy mentioned the rapid emergence of grasses growing along the old riverbanks, as well as the renewed flowing of adjacent streams and waterfalls. He cited these as examples of the Presumpscot valley’s potential for rejuvenating itself into a more diverse natural ecosystem once all or most of the dams are removed at some future time.

At another point in the talk, Shaughnessy stated that the average age of a hydro dam in the United States currently is 61 years, and that the current estimate for the appropriate lifespan of a hydro dam is 100 years. (The Dundee Dam is 112 years old, as it was constructed in 1913.) Shaughnessy also mentioned that the current daily electricity output of all the dams on the Presumpscot is approximately eight megawatts when all the active dams are online, which he said is considered low compared to other hydroelectric projects across the country.