The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission submitted its final Environmental Assessment last month for S.D. Warren’s Eel Weir Dam Hydroelectric Project.
In a separate but related proceeding, the commission also exonerated S.D. Warren of any wrongdoing in the management of the dam during the April, 2005 flooding of Sebago Lake.
The Environmental Assessment, which is required as part of S.D. Warren’s application to obtain a new operating license for the dam, analyzes the environmental impact of the structure and its operation to Sebago Lake and the surrounding area and determines such regulations as target water levels and maximum flow rate through the canal.
Introduced last August, the draft assessment was met with mixed reactions from area residents. They were given the chance to express their views and ask questions of the commission’s project coordinator at a public meeting held in Windham High School’s Performing Arts Center.
With the issuance of this final assessment, S.D. Warren is one step closer to a new 30-to-50-year license.
“Is Eel Weir going to be re-licensed? Certainly no one has ever said it shouldn’t be,” said Dana Murch, dams and hydro supervisor for the State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
According to Murch, the biggest change handed down in the Commision’s report is a new spring water level target rate. It’s been dropped by six inches and delayed by two weeks from levels recommended in the draft.
The group, Friends of Sebago Lake, would like to see these levels dropped even further – low enough to conform to the 100-year historic average for Sebago Lake in an effort to reduce erosion and restore the beaches to their former sandy condition. The group’s president, Roger Wheeler, has mixed reactions to the final assessment.
“They lowered the target rate – they actually listened to us there,” he said. “But I have so many questions and I can’t get answers. Everything’s vague and open to interpretation.”
Those who have opposed the Friends’ fight for a lower water level aren’t totally pleased with the assessment either.
Charlie Freschette, owner of Sebago Lake Marina, felt the commission missed an opportunity to change the traditional management and raise the lake level, adding that the decision was “more political than environmental.”
“Our motivation should be to keep water in the lake for our fisheries and our wetlands,” he said. “In some ways, people are afraid to make a decision that hasn’t been made before.”
According to Murch, the Department of Environmental Protection must make a water quality report before the dam may be relicensed. Murch believes a new license will be issued sometime in 2006.
Regarding the Commission’s decision to exonerate S.D. Warren from any dam mismanagement during April’s flooding, in a letter from George Taylor of the Division of Hydropower Compliance and Administration, he “concluded that (S.D. Warren) took reasonable measures to comply with the lake level management plan as approved by the Order Amending Lake Level Management Plan.”
The Eel Weir Dam regulates Sebago Lake water levels and the flow of the Presumpscot River. According to a new report, lake levels at some times of the year will be six inches lower.Send questions/comments to the editors.
