Landowners in the Highland Lake area will have an opportunity on July 13 to hear about and provide input concerning the Highland Lake Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) fish passage project that is being proposed. On Wednesday, July 13, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service will hold a public meeting at the East Windham Fire Station, 47 Falmouth Road, Windham, from 6-8 p.m. to present an overview of the project and the plan description, and provide an opportunity for public input as required by the Federal environmental evaluation process.
Highland Lake Dam, located at the outlet of Highland Lake in the Mill Brook, Presumpscot River Watershed, was built in 1936 and is owned by the city of Westbrook. A concrete denil fishway owned by the Maine Department of Marine Resources was constructed at the dam in 1988 to allow up- and downstream passage of sea-run fish. In 1996, a storm led to a partial breach of the dam and in the spring of 2000 a new dam was constructed.
Monitoring recently conducted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources indicates that the dam, fishway and stream channel configuration is passing very few fish. The intent of this project is to improve the fishway by making modifications to the fishway and dam, and to restore the stream channel habitat that was degraded during the 1996 flood and dam breach.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
