Kennebec River

Opponents say only removing the obstructions will restore endangered Atlantic salmon to the waterway.

The state initially drafted a denial of the water quality certification for the dam, operated by Brookfield Renewable, in 2021, as part of a federal dam relicensing process, pointing to concerns about the passage of endangered Atlantic salmon.

Federal regulators will hold two public hearings this week on the relicensing for four dams along the Kennebec River.

Conservation groups said the proposed plan won't adequately protect salmon and are calling for FERC to look at other measures as part of the relicensing process.

Augusta, Hallowell and Gardiner — along with many other riverfront communities — are are still dealing with high water levels. But business owners are starting to dig out and assess the damage after the worst flooding in decades.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources says nearly 1,500 salmon have returned to dams in Orono and Milford along the Penobscot River this year, and about 150 have been counted at two dams along the Kennebec.

The conservation groups say they will now take their fight to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is reviewing the dams' licenses.

The announcement from Sappi North America came two days after the mid-term election, where the future of the Skowhegan mill itself had been a flashpoint in Maine's gubernatorial race.

Shawmut is one of four dams that Brookfield Renewable U.S. owns along the Kennebec River. And it has become the latest flashpoint in Maine's decades-long debate over how to restore habitat for Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish while preserving jobs and tax revenues that rely on the dams.

A bill that would change the state's water quality rules is pitting the Maine Senate's top Democrat against the administration of Gov. Janet Mills', in a dispute over a Kennebec River dam, a mill that relies on it, and endangered Atlantic salmon.