With a deadline looming, there’s still no final plan for fish passage at Saccarappa Falls, also delaying an expected economic boon.

For those who see the removal of hydroelectric dams on the Presumpscot River and construction of fish passage at Saccarappa Falls in Westbrook as necessary to boost economic activity in the city, the looming deadline of May 2017 can’t come soon enough.

Sappi Fine Paper, which has operated the dams for decades, has been in discussions with the city, environmental groups and government agencies about fish passage at Saccarappa. In just two years, engineering, design and construction on the project must be accomplished to meet the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission deadline.

Meanwhile, Westbrook business owner Rob Mitchell was on the river last week, where his interests have grown from recreational activities to financial investment. This month, the finishing touches will be applied to an office building he developed on Ash Street, the first building of its kind in Westbrook to face the river.

On Friday, Mitchell used a drone to capture video of the falls and sections upriver – part recreation, part selling point for what he’s hoping is a future destination for fellow kayakers.

“This puts Westbrook on the map as something different,” he said.

John Williams, a Sappi spokesman, said Tuesday that Sappi officials are looking at a plan for the falls that was submitted by the Friends of the Presumpscot, a local nonprofit that has been a major player in fish passage talks.

He said the next public meeting held by Sappi, which will be the first since November 2014, may ask residents their opinion on the plan, as well as on Sappi’s own. Williams said he was a relatively new consultant for the project.

After a series of hearings in 2009, state regulations required Sappi to install fish passage at its Cumberland Mills dam. Sappi’s licenses through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will now require passage on the upstream dams, were contingent on fish passage at Cumberland Mills.

In 2013, Sappi completed its $4.8 million Cumberland Mills fishway project, which now allows river herring, shad and other types of fish to pass up the Presumpscot River for the first time in more than 150 years. This project uses a Denil fish ladder.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission set the deadline for fish passage at Saccarappa for May 2015, and Sappi originally sought to decommission the dams and install a similar fish ladder.

However, last year, an agreement was reached among all stakeholders to ask the commission to delay the deadline until May 2017 for the purpose of studying the complete removal of the dams and possible recreational opportunities. The request was approved.

During the November public meeting, Sappi officials said they had a goal of completing the design phase within six to eight months. Williams said an upcoming meeting, which has not yet been scheduled, will help narrow down the final design between plans from Sappi and Friends of the Presumpscot.

It would be a meeting “not to say this is what we plan to do, but say, ‘This is our idea, and here’s another idea,’ so the public can provide some input on it,” Williams said.

When asked how far apart the two plans are, Williams said there are both similarities and differences, but many involve specific portions of the project, including where, and how many areas at the site fish would be able to swim up the falls.

Michael Shaughnessy, the president of the Friends of the Presumpscot, said the two plans differ in how they will allow fish to make it up the falls, but he believes his organization has been using more in-depth data in crafting its design.

“It’s an incredibly complicated site,” he said about Saccarappa Falls.

He said that even with the dams removed, most fish still wouldn’t be able to make it over the falls, meaning both plans for the site involve complicated work to allow fish to travel upriver.

The Saccarappa site has lower and upper falls, each with a section of dam. Shaughnessy said the Friends of the Presumpscot proposal for fish passage has a “rock ramp” stemming from the hydro plant, which would have switchbacks to allow fish to swim upstream over the lower falls.

“We think this will do the most in terms of getting fish up there,” he said.

Sappi’s plan, he said, would use a Denil fish ladder (like the one at Cumberland Mills) on the lower falls.

Once fish, such as alewife, shad, herring and salmon, make it up the lower falls, there are two channels, dubbed east and west. The east channel flows past the Dana Warp Mill side, while the west begins just under the boardwalk of Saccarappa Park.

Shaughnessy said his organization is “adamant” that both channels remain open for fish.

“We’d like both sides to be open until we figure out where the fish are going to go,” he said.

All agree that for a project of this scope, the two years will go by quickly.

“That deadline, even though it seems like it’s a couple years out, still needs the engineering work and physical work,” Williams said. “Sappi does need to make a decision here.”

“This is when it has to happen, because they still have to construct the thing,” Shaughnessy said.

When asked what happens if Sappi doesn’t meet the deadline, Williams said he didn’t know, and didn’t “want to speculate.”

According to Shaughnessy, the decision on which fish passage plan to use will come from the agencies working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, such as the U.S. Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. He said he’s unsure if there will be room, or time, for compromise on the plan that’s chosen.

Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, was seen as an integral voice in the mutual decision to look at “nature-like” fish passage.

Baker isn’t as optimistic about how close the two sides are in their respective designs.

“We are at a historic juncture with the river, and poised to do something that was very unexpected a couple years ago in removing the dams,” he said. “But I worry the two plans are not very much alike.”

But, he said, there have been ongoing “technical” meetings on the project, which he said can “narrow the scope” of what’s being looked at. He’s hoping the agencies currently looking at both plans can provide some feedback, and “move the parties closer to a common path.”

He said the design phase has to happen by the “September or October timeframe.”

Baker said he has faith in Sappi to get it done, using the example of Cumberland Mills.

“They demonstrated their agility in that case, they had a very short window,” he said. “But certainly, time is of the essence.”

For the city, the delay to study natural fish passage could mean the addition of recreational amenities in the plans, making it easier for whitewater kayakers to traverse the falls. Baker has also continued discussions with a Colorado-based creator of kayak riverparks, something that he and Mitchell believe could put Westbrook on the map.

A play wave, or standing wave, is a stationary wave on a river caused by a high volume of water constricted by flowing over a rock, which creates a wave behind. Riders can use the wave for surfing, paddle boarding and kayaking.

Last year, the Westbrook City Council unanimously approved both the hiring of Colorado-based Recreational Engineering and Planning for design of the feature, as well as a $39,200 Community Development Block Grant, to cover the majority of the cost.

In 2011, Mitchell proposed a river park for this section of the river, and since that time, Baker has pushed the idea to coincide with the work to establish fish passage. Baker said Gary Lacy, the chief engineer for the Colorado company, has been in on the technical meetings on the fish passage plans.

Baker said the kayaking aspects of the project can’t be designed until a fish passage plan is agreed on, but that the play wave feature would be separate, and designed in the lower falls.

For Mitchell, he’s now “all in” along the river in Westbrook, betting that the restored fishway and dam removal will translate to more people downtown and increased economic activity. His new office building has a roof deck with panoramic views of Westbrook, including a straight line of sight to the falls.

He’s hoping the four-story building will have a first-floor cafe?, which could someday offer kayak rentals. Outside, one of the city ramps to the river sits just off the riverwalk. Mitchell said he’s closing in on a tenant that will use the other three floors.

“I’ve been seeing a lot more people using those docks, even for swimming,” he said last week, adding that he was on the fence about even developing the building until fish passage was complete.

“But I thought, if I build it, I get people thinking sooner, and maybe that will make things happen faster,” he said.

Mitchell is far from the only person invested in the downtown who is watching the fish passage discussions closely. Joyce Talbot, the landlord of the Edwards Block and other Westbrook buildings, said this week that the river is “a wonderful natural resource.”

Talbot said she is also a kayaker.

“It would be wonderful to have the community participate in that,” she said.

Above the falls, Mitchell owns a property off Lincoln Street. He said depending on what happens after fish passage is completed, he may decide to turn the property into a commercial use, perhaps a destination for kayakers to launch.

“This would be distinguishing Westbrook, almost in this half of the country,” he said about the potential for the city to be a kayaking destination.

Mitchell argues that if a play wave is built in the lower falls, people will come to watch, especially as the new Bridge Street bridge and pedestrian walkway add to the walkability of downtown Westbrook.

For the Friends of the Presumpscot, fish passage is the No. 1 goal for the site – the only reason work is being done there. Shaughnessy believes once fish passage is completed, recreational opportunities will follow, but says building amenities for whitewater kayakers can’t be an “impediment” to the best fish passage design.

While he supports the addition of kayaking features at the site, he said other recreational opportunities such as birdwatching and fishing will also stem from fish passage.

“A restored fishery has a huge recreational benefit, and it’s way bigger than just kayaking,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Friends of the Presumpscot released a report touting the positive impact of restored fisheries on local economies. One local example given was in Damariscotta Mills, which is home to the oldest fish ladder in the state. The town hosts an annual alewife festival that, according to the report, attracts thousands.

In the years to come, fish passage will also be required at the other dams upriver. Shaughnessy said a successful Saccarappa site is integral to getting fish passage on the Presumpscot.

“If there is a design that doesn’t work well at Saccarappa, there will be no fish passage at the rest of the dams,” he said.

The next dam is at Mallison Falls, 5 miles upstream.

Either way, Shaughnessy said, Westbrook has a chance to deliver a project that can pull together big things for the river, its wildlife, and the local economy.

“If you have these things working together, then you have the whole package,” Shaughnessy said. “Westbrook is in an amazing position, if it gets it right.”

Saccarappa Falls, running past the historic Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook, is the subject of complicated work taking place now to establish a plan for “nature-like” fish passage, with a deadline of May 2017. The groups involved are now vetting differing plans on how fish would travel up the lower and upper (bottom of photo) sections of the falls. Photo courtesy of HoverflowRob Mitchell, a Westbrook business owner, paddles his canoe not far upriver from Saccarappa Falls. Staff photo by Andrew Rice  Copy the Story Link