Millie Turner Dam Removal Nissitissit Restoration Project

Factsheet September 2015 River restoration is underway on the beautiful Nissitissit River in Pepperell, MA. Home to endangered mussels and native brook trout, the river is considered some of the most viable habitat for rare species and natural communities in (BioMap Core Habitat). It is also located within the Squannassit Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

Removal of the Turner Dam - the only intact dam on the Nissitissit River in Massachusetts - is expected to improve ecological conditions, eliminate a public safety hazard, reduce flooding risks, and enhance climate change resiliency of the local community. This work complements long-time local stewardship by Trout Unlimited, Watershed Association, Nashoba Conservation Trust, MA Outdoor Heritage Foundation, Nissitissit River Land Trust, and others within the watershed.

The dam removal is linked to land protection actions completed at the site. In 2010, 17 acres of land were purchased, bringing the Removal of this dam will help the river return to total state riverfront protected area to 383 acres. Today, these a healthier and more natural state. lands are managed by the MA Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (DFW) for fish and wildlife habitat, public access, and enjoyment. By the numbers...

How will river restoration be accomplished? • Upstream river length “reconnected” post dam removal = 40 miles Removal of the primary spillway of the Turner Dam (a 10-foot tall and approximately 100-foot wide section of the structure) will restore • Downstream river length fish passage and the natural movement of sediment and organic “reconnected” = 57 miles matter, with benefits to upstream and downstream habitats. • Reconnected alewife habitat at Project Team and Supporters Potanipo Lake, NH = 136 acres • Engineering design and permitting cost = $90,000 (MA DER funded) • Land Acquisition (~17 acres) cost = $475, 000 (MA DFG funded) • Dam removal cost (e.g. demolition, oversight, and historical work) = about $200,000 (DOI/NFWF funded) • Estimated cost for dam repair = $2.8 million (2005 inspection estimate) • Duration of demolition and Nashoba Conservation Trust restoration work = about 6 weeks Learning Opportunities – Fish, mussels, Timeline*: sediment, and habitat • ~1750 – Dam constructed and associated

The dam removal and resulting changes in the river offer a with grist and saw mills. great opportunity for learning, and the project team is • 1838 – Blake and Ballard machine shop collaborating to study the biological, chemical, and physical established on site. effects. The project is expected to: (1) reconnect • 1864 – Blake Brothers produced “Improved fragmented habitat and restore the free movement of Turbine Water Wheel,” a “belt fastener” that aquatic organisms; (2) repair key ecological processes they invented and patented; the turbine is including the movement of sediment and organic matter; sold nationally and internationally. (3) improve habitat quality upstream and downstream; and, • 1942 – Robert and Millie Turner purchased (4) improve water quality. The science-based monitoring property and razed the industrial buildings program will help evaluate project success. on site (ca. 1947). • 1954 – Dam failure caused by upstream DFW fisheries staff have conducted fish community dam breach (Potanipo Pond) and heavy ice surveys in areas upstream and downstream of the dam flows. since 2014, and will continue this work after the dam • 1956 – Dam reconstructed by Paugus Rod removal. DFW’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species and Gun Club and a group of local Program (NHESP) is leading a comprehensive study and volunteers. relocation effort targeting the state-listed Brook Floater • 2008 – Property conveyed to David Babin mussel. Keene State College (with funding support from (current dam owner) by Millie Turner. Trout Unlimited) is assessing pre- and post- dam removal • 2010 – Mass DFG purchases 17 acres from physical conditions including grain sizes to help understand Mr. Babin for conservation purposes; the how the downstream transport of sediment changes habitat dam and underlying land (0.47 ac) is quality. Finally, UMass Amherst is studying water quality excluded. including temperature and dissolved oxygen • 2013 – MA Division of Ecological concentrations. Restoration (DER) accepts dam removal as a state Priority Project for river restoration, onoring the site’s history leads project design, permitting, and H fundraising. The dam abutments and two raceways will be preserved • 2015 – Dam removal, mussel relocation, following removal of the primary spillway. Stones from the and completion of 0.47 acre property dam will be reused on site to form benches and mark transfer to the state. parking boundaries. Interpretive signage will be installed to • Beyond 2015 – Continued monitoring of tell the story of the site including human uses and the sediment, mussel, and fish communities, return to free flowing conditions. and physical/chemical changes to the river by project partners. For more information: MA Department of Fish and Game, DER Project Manager Alex Hackman ([email protected]) or DFW District * Source: 2014 Archaeological reconnaissance survey at the Millie Turner/Blake Supervisor Pat Huckery ([email protected] ) Mill Dam Removal Project. By Barbara Donohue, Cultural Resources Consultant

Photos by A. Hackman, MA DFG DER

Funding for this dam removal is provided through the Department of the Interior's Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resilience Competitive Grant Program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).