John Lichter is a professor of biology and environmental studies, emeritus at Bowdoin College. Scot McFarlane is a river historian and consultant at the Oxbow History Company. Together they are writing a book on the history and ecology of the Androscoggin River.

 The Androscoggin River once haunted Mainers with its nauseating odors, clouds of foam and fumes that stained freshly painted homes. But more so than any other river, it inspired Maine Sen. Ed Muskie to push for the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972.

Bald eagles, once reduced to a single breeding pair in Merrymeeting Bay, now nest all the way to the New Hampshire headwaters. The road has been long as ecological processes operate on decadal time scales, not days or even years. This recovery is about to hit a concrete wall, or more specifically, a dam, unless we act during a rare, once-in-a-half-century regulatory window.

Today, we have an opportunity to give future generations a fighting chance to thrive in an uncertain, warming climate by securing a functioning river ecosystem and coastal food web. The Brunswick Hydroelectric Dam at the head-of-tide on the Androscoggin River in Brunswick and Topsham is currently being reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for another 40- to 50-year permit to operate.

The dam produces enough electricity to supply only about 0.6% of Maine’s power, yet almost completely blocks fish passage, in violation of the Clean Water Act. It is now or never for influencing the relicensing process and force the dam owner to adhere to Clean Water Act standards for safe passage of native fish species both upriver and downriver over the dam.

The Androscoggin’s fish provided a vital source of sustenance for both Native people and settlers, but what has been underappreciated is that Maine’s rivers were also vital for supporting the coastal marine food web.

Each year millions of river herring, shad, salmon, sturgeons, smelt and striped bass moved en masse from the ocean into the rivers during their spawning runs. Months later, billions of newborn fish migrated downriver into the estuaries and coastal waters, contributing to the population of groundfish, such as cod, in the Gulf of Maine.

This is a prolific bounty produced by evolutionary relationships among species that developed over eons and which were resilient to natural fluctuations. Unfortunately, few species can withstand centuries of overharvest and alteration of the ecosystems on which they depend such as dam building and industrial pollution. 

Historically, the Androscoggin supported upward of 4 million river herring, salmon and shad. Today, on average, only 71,000 river herring ascend upriver past the Brunswick dam. The dam has a fish ladder that does not work well. Salmon moving up the ladder scrape their scales off against the concrete walls in the midst of turbulent water flow and very few shad succeed in navigating the ladder at all.

The next two upriver dams at Pejepscot and Lisbon Falls have functioning fish lifts that could accommodate far more than 71,000 river herring. A fish lift is just as it sounds — a box filled with water that is raised to carry fish up and over the dam. Being at the head-of-tide, the Brunswick dam is key to restoring the entire Androscoggin watershed. 

It’s time to act and advocate for improved fish passage.  Last year, Free-the-Andro, a local grassroots organization of concerned citizens, was formed to influence the federal relicensing process for the benefit of a functioning Androscoggin River ecosystem. Free-the-Andro engages in conversations about potential solutions for fish passage to historic spawning grounds and solicits support from individuals and groups.

The relicensing process is in the second year of a five-year review. The worst outcome would be for federal regulators to think that people and towns along our portion of the Androscoggin do not care about the river or its wildlife. Over the next three years, we would like to see an outpouring of support for better fish passage. 

Although we cannot know the challenges people in the future will face, we can be certain that they will be better equipped with the functioning river and coastal ecosystems that have sustained people throughout history.