In June 2001, a portion of the Union Gas Dam on Messalonskee Stream
collapsed. Due to serious concerns about the dam's integrity, its owner,
Florida Power & Light, immediately drained the dam's impoundment and
removed the spillway of the 30 foot high dam during July and August of 2001.
The Union Gas Dam was built in the early 1900s and impounded over one
mile of Messalonskee Stream in the City of Waterville, Maine. The dam is
located 1.5 miles above the confluence of Messalonskee Stream and the Kennebec
River at Pettys Rips.
On 9 June 2003, Friends of the Kennebec Salmon
volunteers conducted a field visit to document the changes which have occurred
on Messalonskee Stream since the breaching of the Union Gas Dam two years
ago. We were very pleased to observe many positive improvements in the health
of Messalonskee Stream since the dam was removed.
We offer the following slide show to share what we saw. Please join
us on our journey to one of Central Maine's most beautiful and most abused
waterways.