University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 2016 The wS ift aW ter Place: Water Quality, Fish Ecology, and Hydropower in the Merrimack River since the Time of Thoreau Timothy Melia University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Melia, Timothy, "The wS ift aW ter Place: Water Quality, Fish Ecology, and Hydropower in the Merrimack River since the Time of Thoreau" (2016). Doctoral Dissertations. 1362. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1362 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The wS ift aW ter Place: Water Quality, Fish Ecology, and Hydropower in the Merrimack River since the Time of Thoreau Abstract The eM rrimack River and its landscape reflect the priorities that have shaped the stream for two centuries. When Henry David Thoreau and his brother John put their dory into the Merrimack in September of 1839, they were paddling into a landscape that was shifting towards water-powered industries and mill cities. The legal transformation of water and the completion of the Great Stone Dam at Lawrence in 1847 spelled the end of the anadromous fish runs that had populated the Merrimack for centuries. Salmon restoration proceeded for three decades after the Civil War until fish passage failed. Later, water filtration plants allowed communities to draw clean water from the Merrimack, although it ran as an open sewer well into the middle of the twentieth century. After World War Two suburban growth rapidly expanded the water map beyond the old mill cities, increasing the need for local supplies. Starting in 1965, the restoration of the Merrimack began with new efforts at federal water pollution control and federal-state fisheries partnerships. An instrumental vision of nature had given way to a wider consideration of what a river could do for local people, and in the multiple restorations that followed leadership was provided at different times by the federal government, state governments, local groups, and private citizens. Along the way, the dams were put back to work generating cheap local hydroelectricity. While some anadromous fish came back to a cleaner river, many did not. The legacy ecosystem of the Merrimack River today reveals how the tension between industry and nature continues to define the priorities that shape local landscapes. Keywords Fish, Hydropower, Merrimack, River, Thoreau, Water, American history This dissertation is available at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1362 THE SWIFT WATER PLACE: WATER QUALITY, FISH ECOLOGY, AND HYDROPOWER IN THE MERRIMACK RIVER SINCE THE TIME OF THOREAU BY TIMOTHY F. MELIA Bachelor of Arts, University of New Hampshire, 1992 Master of Liberal Arts, Harvard Extension School, 2007 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History September, 2016 This dissertation has been examined and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by: Dissertation Chair: W. Jeffrey Bolster, Professor (History) Ellen F. Fitzpatrick, Professor (History) Eliga H. Gould, Professor (History) Kurk Dorsey, Professor (History) William E. Ross, Professor (Special Collections) On May 25, 2016. Original approval signatures are on file with the University of New Hampshire Graduate School. ii ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © 2016 Timothy F. Melia iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to all of the people who will have ever lived in the Merrimack River watershed. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge that, without the abiding love and support of my parents, Martin J. Melia M.D. and Frances A. Melia, this dissertation would never have been possible. I acknowledge the opportunity offered to me by the University of New Hampshire with a Teaching Assistantship. I also acknowledge the award of a Gunst-Wilcox-Mennel Fellowship that supported my research. It was very helpful when I was collecting public records. I acknowledge the support of the History Department of the University of New Hampshire, and of the members of my committee in particular, for helping me to get things done. I acknowledge the staff of the Department of History – Jeannie Mitchell, Susan Kilday, Laura Simard, Thea Dickerman, and Lara Demarest – for helping me to succeed. I acknowledge the New England Historical Association (NEHA) for affording me the opportunity to deliver conference papers that helped me to frame my ideas for further study. I acknowledge the assistance of the Merrimack River Watershed Council, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife, and New Hampshire Fish and Game in guiding my research and providing me with public documents that were invaluable to my work. I acknowledge the American people for helping to finance my education and for defending my freedom through service in the armed forces of the United States of America. Their support and sacrifice made it possible for me to study the history of the country that I love. v ABSTRACT THE SWIFT WATER PLACE: WATER QUALITY, FISH ECOLOGY, AND HYDROPOWER IN THE MERRIMACK RIVER SINCE THE TIME OF THOREAU by Timothy F. Melia University of New Hampshire, September, 2016 The Merrimack River and its landscape reflect the priorities that have shaped the stream for two centuries. When Henry David Thoreau and his brother John put their dory into the Merrimack in September of 1839, they were paddling into a landscape that was shifting towards water-powered industries and mill cities. The legal transformation of water and the completion of the Great Stone Dam at Lawrence in 1847 spelled the end of the anadromous fish runs that had populated the Merrimack for centuries. Salmon restoration proceeded for three decades after the Civil War until fish passage failed. Later, water filtration plants allowed communities to draw clean water from the Merrimack, although it ran as an open sewer well into the middle of the twentieth century. After World War Two suburban growth rapidly expanded the water map beyond the old mill cities, increasing the need for local supplies. Starting in 1965, the restoration of the Merrimack began with new efforts at federal water pollution control and federal-state fisheries partnerships. An instrumental vision of nature had given way to a wider consideration of what a river could do for local people, and in the multiple restorations that followed leadership was provided at different times by the federal government, state governments, local groups, and private citizens. Along the way, the dams were put back to work generating cheap local hydroelectricity. While some anadromous fish came back to a cleaner river, many did not. The legacy ecosystem of the Merrimack River today reveals how the tension between industry and nature continues to define the priorities that shape local landscapes. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION…………………………………………………………….. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………….. v ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………. vi CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 1 I. FISHED AND FOULED………………………………………………. 22 II. MILLS TO MALLS…………………………………………………… 65 III. “THE MERRIMACK, PLAYGROUND OR SEWER?”…………….. 103 IV. GETTING OUT OF THE HOLE…………………………………….. 138 V. COMPLIANCE AND COMPLAINTS……………………………….. 173 VI. THE LEGACY ECOSYSTEM……………………………………….. 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………. 248 APPENDIX………………………………………………………………... 281 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure I.1. “Merrimack River Watershed,” by the Merrimack River Watershed Council…………………………………………………………. 2 Figure 1.1. Percentage of 1789 Market Value of the Salmon and Shad Markets of the Merrimack River Between 1789 and 1865..……………...... 33 Figure 2.1. Employed Nondurable Manufacturing Workers in Six Major Cities along the Merrimack River, 1950 – 1970…………………………… 76 Figure 2.2. Median Family Incomes in 1970 Dollars for Six Major Cities along the Merrimack River, 1949 – 1969…………………………………… 78 Figure 2.3. Median Family Incomes for Lawrence and Three Neighboring Communities, 1959 – 1969, in 1970 Dollars……………………………….. 80 Figure 2.4. Median Family Incomes for Lowell and Three Neighboring Communities, 1959 – 1969, in 1970 Dollars……………………………….. 81 Figure 3.1. Populations of Selected Communities along the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, 1940 – 1970………………………………………. 113 Figure 3.2. 1963 and 1965 Estimates of Local Tax Increases in the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts……………………………………….. 114 Figure 3.3. Percentages of Tax Rate Increases Between 1963 and 1965 for 1970 Budgets in Local Communities Along the Merrimack River…….. 115 Figure 3.4. Populations of Selected Communities along the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, 1940 – 1970……………………………………..... 115 Figure 3.5. Estimated Costs (1970 Dollars) for Local Wastewater Treatment Projects Along the Merrimack River in New Hampshire………. 116 Figure 4.1. “Merrimack River Basin, Figure 1. Water Quality Classification,” July – August 1974………………………………………… 144 Figure 4.2. “Merrimack River Basin, Figure 2. Location of Sampling Stations,” July – August 1974……………………………………………….