New FAQ Section – Brunswick Dam Fish Passage

As Free the Andro expands its community outreach, the following are a few of the many questions it has received.

Androscoggin River

Tell me about the Androscoggin River

178 miles long
Watershed of 3,530 square miles
Starts in Maine then runs through New Hampshire and back into Maine, ending in Merrymeeting Bay where it joins the Kennebeck before flowing to the sea at Fort Popham.

Isn’t the Andro a cesspool?

Since enactment of the Clean Water Act the Andro has consistently improved in water quality. Just recently the classification was upgraded to “Class B” from Lisbon Falls to Merrymeeting Bay.
“Class B” generally designates a water body with high water quality, suitable for various uses like recreation, aquatic life support, and agricultural uses. Class B waters are typically required to be suitable for fish and other aquatic life, including their reproduction, migration, growth, and other critical functions. They also need to be suitable for primary and secondary contact recreation, meaning activities like swimming and boating are appropriate.

Do people really use it?

The Andro is being actively used for recreational boating, fishing, and swimming.

Was the Androscoggin the birthplace of the Clean Water Act?

The Clean Water Act, was significantly influenced by Maine’s experience with polluted rivers, particularly the Androscoggin River. Senator Edmund Muskie, a Maine native, played a key role in drafting and securing the passage of the Act in 1972.

Brunswick-Topsham Dam

Can you tell me about the Brunswick-Topsham dam?

Completed in 1982
Has a capacity for 19 megawatts power generation but actual energy production is generally less than that and varies by year. While exact figures are not presently available, Brookfield White Pine Hydro, LLC, the dam’s owner, reported in 2024 that the facility maintains an average annual production of approximately 10 megawatts. This corresponds to an output of roughly 90,000 kWh of electricity per year, sufficient to supply power to around 13,000 homes. This is the equivalent of roughly 100 to 200 acres of solar farm production.
The dam spans the entire river and makes fish migration impossible without adequate engineered fish passage.

How long has a dam been in that location?

This version of dam has been here since 1982
Since 1753 some form of dam has been in this general location. Initially small dams were made of wood, earth, and stone and did not block the entire river. These dams were regularly washed away in floods.
Over time dam sizes increased, used more durable materials such as concrete, and eventually completely blocked the river.

Has the dam always blocked fish passage?

This version of the dam, a 20 to 40 foot tall concrete wall spanning the river, has always seriously restricted fish passage.
Data shows extremely small to zero numbers for fish species using the fish ladder.

Who is Brookfield?

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. owns Brookfield White pine Hydro, LLC and is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns and operates renewable power assets, with corporate headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is 60% owned by Brookfield Asset Management.

Does Brookfield care about fish passage at its dams?

Brookfield does make efforts to address fish passage but it is not a major priority in its operation.
Brookfield acknowledges that the current fish ladder does not adequately facilitate fish migration.

Fish Passage

Why should we care about fish passage at the dam?

As the first dam on the Androscoggin river, without improved fish passage, the dam acts as a barrier restricting access to 3,530 square miles of watershed. It is hard to calculate the lost biological productivity that results from this barrier to migratory fish access to historic inland range, but research suggests major impacts on downstream commercial fish stocks, and upstream ecological productivity.

How do we know the passage is not working?

Fish counts are regularly made at the top of the fish ladder to monitor fish that make it over the barrier. These are compared to monitoring counts at the base of the dam. The difference between the two counts represent the impact of the dam as a barrier. Data suggests three percent or less of fish that arrive at the base of the dam are counted at the top of the ladder.
These counts do not include loss to downstream migration. Many fish are killed when they pass through the dam turbines searching for a river exit.

What kinds of fish need to pass above the dam?

Migratory fish that use the upstream watershed for part of their life history such as spawning and early growth in preparation for life at sea. These include shad, herring, and salmon.

Besides dam removal, how can all these fish safely go around the dam, upstream and down?

Passive forms of passage facilitation include ladders or side channels that allow fish to navigate up and over the dam through a series of small steps or moderate slopes.
Active forms of access involve human intervention that capture the fish and use a mechanism to transport the fish such as elevators.

How will the river change with improved fish passage?

Improved fish passage will restore more natural migration patterns and release the potential productivity of the watershed. This will result in increased biomass production, economic benefits due to improved fisheries, improved ecosystem health, reintegrate the natural connection between the river and the sea, and result in an environment more resistant to extreme events.

Will my community benefit?

The river is a local natural resource that your community owns and shares. For decades one company has received the benefits of that resource at the cost of your fish and your associated environment. Improved fish passage will help restore some of those values to your community. Improved fisheries will also have significant economic benefits.

Do the local communities support fishway improvement?

Both Brunswick and Topsham have passed resolutions in support of improved fish passage.

What are the recreational benefits to better fish passage?

Improved fisheries will allow for expanded recreational fishing.
Improved fish passage could also include improved small boat (canoe) passage.

What are the commercial benefits of better fish passage?

Before dam development the Androscoggin was an extremely rich fishery with diverse, plentiful, and healthy fish communities that easily supported local economic and nutritional needs.
Improved fisheries could result in greater fish stocks and improved harvests. These will benefit local fisherman and their communities.
Expanded recreational fishing would promote tourism in additional to satisfying local demand.

Do endangered species use the fishway?

Salmon do pass on occasion but it is very rare.

There is a fish passage at the dam now. I see it every day. What’s wrong with that?

It is poorly designed. Data shows that it does a bad job of helping fish over the dam. By some estimates less than 3% of fish that reach the dam are able to get through the existing ladder. Of those that make it over, many are injured and strained in the process which reduces the likelihood of continued survival.

How many dams are on the Androscoggin? What difference does the Brunswick-Topsham dam make for fish passage?

There are many dams on the Androscoggin with varying types and quality of fish passage. However, this dam is the first on river and as a result stops the most fish.

FERC Role/Process

What is FERC?

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

When does the FERC license expire for the Brunswick-Topsham dam?

2029

How does the FERC process work?

This is a multi-year process with many stages along the way. Studies are completed to explore dam impacts and benefits. Government officials, experts, stakeholders, and local community are consulted along the way. Ultimately FERC will decide if and under what conditions another license will be approved.

Does FERC care about fish passage at a dam?

Fish passage is one factor that is taken into consideration, but the amount of priority is often dependent on stakeholder input, ecological impact, and political environment.

How long does a FERC license last?

These last for decades. It has been over 40 years since the last license was approved for this dam.

FTA (Free the Andro)

What is the FTA? What are its goals?

Free the Androscoggin is a community based non-profit advocating for improved fish passage over the Brunswick dam. It is made of local community members, broad stakeholders, conservation specialists, academic researchers, former government officials, and other relevant experts.

Why is FTA needed?

Brookfield has a vested interest in advocating for relicensing at the lowest cost possible. FTA will advocate for the best options available based on scientific data and current best practices.

Does FTA want to remove the Brunswick-Topsham dam?

FTA’s goal is improved fish passage. It believes that there are many options available to succeed without having to remove the dam. If Brookfield refuses to make those improvements it is up to FERC to determine if the dam should be removed.

If not dam removal, what is the FTA answer to fish passage?

Over 40 years, since the construction of the Brunswick fish ladder, research and engineering have produced a wide array of better fish passage solutions. The FERC process will allow for discussion and exploration of which are the best alternatives in this situation. FTA is not predisposed to any one design. It has one goal: free unfettered passage of fish over the dam.

Do you want Maine to lose clean hydro power generated by the Brunswick-Topham dam?

Most fish passage improvements would not require dam removal. While the volume of power generated by the Brunswick dam is limited, it is certainly beneficial. If fish passage can be accomplished while preserving power generation, FTA would be supportive.