Merrimack River Restoration?

[Slopes]

Howdy,

It might have been mentioned on other posts so my apologies if this has been discussed.

I came across an article this week which discussed how there are fish ladders in place on the Merrimack, (Manchester, Lowell, Essex). Was anyone aware of this?

Here's the Merrimack site which is an educational facility too for kids.

Also, stumbled across this US Wildlife data on the dams and their success of the above cities. It appears there are a few fish that have been able to get up the ladders.

http://www.fws.gov/r5cneafp/returns.htm

[Gerry]

Yes there are fish passage apparatus at the three dams mentioned. The best is the Amoskeag Fishway in Manchester that serves strictly as an educational tool, since few if any andaromous fish are able to reach Manchester due to the disastrously ineffective fish ladder at Pawtucket falls in Lowell. Last year the new fish lift at Essex Dam in Lawrence became operational,but for the last three years the floods have been so bad that it has been almost totally useless. So there you have it - lip-service being paid to upstream passage. Downstream passage is almost as bad, but that is a story for another day.
Tight lines,
Gerry

[Banks10]

The effort to re-establish fish passage on the Merrimack has been effectively like trying to build a house from the roof down. From what I understand Amoskeag's fishway is legit, but until adequate fish passage is established in Lowell and Lawerence, it is all for nothing, at least in linking the upper Merrimack with the ocean for anadromous species.
However, dams aren't the only break in the link. Even without dams, fish in great numbers are not going to migrate up a polluted, bathtub drain. Before the dams are mitigated, there can be efforts in restoration which are just as important.