Overview of Major Influences – Background and context

Since the earliest settlement of the Presumpscot River basin and the construction of the first dam at Presumpscot Falls (now known as Smelt Hill) in the early 1730’s (McClellan, H., 1903, History of Gorham Maine), the Presumpscot River, its immediate environs and watershed have undergone continual change. Activities that contributed to these changes included:

· clearing of land and draining or filling wetlands for agriculture;

· timber harvesting for fuel wood, lumber, shipbuilding, and later pulp and paper manufacturing;

· extraction of sand and gravel;

· development of settlements;

· construction of roads, canals, and later railroads for transportation;

· industrial development, including development of dams for water power and later hydroelectric power; and

· use of the River by industry and municipalities for waste disposal.

The variety, number and magnitude of these activities relative to the size of the River are without parallel on other rivers in Maine, e.g., no other river in Maine had a canal and commercial shipping for its entire length and, no other river in Maine has virtually all its hydraulic head captured behind dams (except perhaps Messalonskee Stream, which is about half the length of the Presumpscot and is a stream rather than a river). All of these activities contributed to the economic development of the area and environmental impacts.

The power and water supply provided by the Presumpscot were fundamentally important to the early development of the area. As was stated in Images of America, “this river is the one and only reason that 16,121 people make their home in Westbrook. From the Native Americans to the Industrialists, this town would never have been settled but for the potential for life seen by those who gazed upon these waters. Saccarappa, Cumberland Mills, Westbrook; call us what you will, but we are the river.” (Dianne LeConte, 2000)

Dams, which now and have historically occupied most of the River’s length, were essential for water power, and later, with the development of hydroelectric generation technology, provided a low cost source of electricity. Today, these older hydroelectric power facilities remain one of the lowest cost alternatives for energy available to the area. There is a price for development, however. For example, as a result of the obstructions to movement presented by the dams, access to the Presumpscot is no longer available for sea run fish. Further, only a few decades ago this was a moot issue as poor water quality rendered the habitat unusable even if it were accessible.

While use of the River for power and waste disposal were viewed as a normal part of economic development at the time, the impacts to the River, particularly its fisheries, were a concern from very early in the area’s history. Orders from the Massachusetts Legislature (called the General Court) in 1735 and 1741 required that any dams constructed on the River provide passage for fish (See Appendices 2 and 3). In the 1840's concerns were raised over pollution of the River with bark and sawdust; in the 1850's the paper industry was established on the River at Cumberland Mills, and a number of other industries including woolen and textile mills, iron works, and a gunpowder mill were adding to the pollutant loading of the River. (Collection and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. V 1894 – The Story of the Presumpscot). The 1880's saw the introduction of the sulfite pulping process in Maine, which dramatically increased pollution loads on Maine’s rivers. The early 1900's also saw the establishment of hydropower for electrical production.

By the 1950's the condition of the lower River was similar to most rivers in the developed northeast: it was heavily polluted and its primary value was as a conduit for waste. However, with the passage of time and changes in economic conditions, the stage had been set for revitalization of the Presumpscot. That is, virtually all the small non-paper mills along the River had disappeared (textiles, gun powder, etc.) replaced by larger, more modern mills elsewhere. Likewise, the Canal had long since been replaced as a major transportation route, first by railroad and then by automobiles and trucks.

The culture of environmental consciousness that grew in the 1960's, in reaction to the condition of rivers nationwide, led to passage of the Clean Water Act and marked reductions in water pollutant discharges by the 1970's. Initially focused on biological oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids, the Clean Water Act was subsequently amended to address other types of pollution including toxic chemicals and heavy metals. The effects of water pollution control efforts have been particularly noteworthy on the Presumpscot because the source for the River is Sebago Lake, a huge supply of clean water used by Portland as its water supply. In 1999 the S.D. Warren Company, now SAPPI, the major industrial user of the River, decided to cease its pulp manufacturing operation at its Westbrook Mill. This further reduced discharges to the River. The water quality of the River now appears substantially improved. (Dave Courtemanch, DEP, personal comment).

While industrial discharges to the River have been dramatically reduced since the 1960’s, municipal treatment plant discharges and non point sources of contamination have increased due to the rising population that accompanied the recent development boom in southern Maine. In addition, development has increased along the river, affecting wildlife habitat, wetlands and open space. Further, development elsewhere in the watershed has increased the percentage of land draining to the river that is impervious to water, resulting in an increased load of pollutants carried to the river by stormwater. The following discussion reviews how the various activities that have occurred since the original settlement of the Presumpscot River basin have cumulatively affected the river, its shorelands, and the fish and wildlife resources that inhabit the River and its riparian corridor.

The chronology which follows sketches the outlines of the Presumpscot’s rich history. It was the site of one of the first serious disputes over water rights in Maine (fish versus dams). Further, it was the site of Maine’s first pulp mill, first hydroelectric project, only significant canal, largest gun powder mill, one of IF&W’s most successful efforts to reestablish a salmonid fishery. It is also one of the regions of the State where air and water quality are most improved. The list goes on. Given this history it should be no surprise that the Presumpscot is in the news once again, as society struggles to balance competing demands on its resources.

Figure 1: Map of the Presumpscot River

Presumpscot River Timeline[1]

1500’s Ammonscongin was selected as Indian planting ground because of the great quantity of fish there.

1623 Captain Christopher Leavitt (or Levett) explores to Presumpscot Falls. “Leavitt remarked on the abundance of fish.”

1646 Saw mill, Presumpscot Falls.

1650 “At certain time, the entire surface of the river for a foot deep, was all fish.”

1690 “The intense fighting (with the Indians) continued until 1690, at which time there was no one left in Falmouth.”

1699 Fort New Casco, built as a result of peace with Indians, at Mackworth Point.

1700’s Extensive lumbering along the upper Presumpscot; Royal Mast Landing below Mallison Falls.

to early “the logs were floated down the river to tide-water.” “The whole surface of the river was often

1800’s completely bridged for miles.”

1732 (Westbrook) First dam, paper mill and grist mill by Samuel Waldo & Colonel Westbrook at Presumpscot Falls.

1734 First ship built on river: 600 ton mast ship.

1734 (Falmouth) Parson (Thomas) Smith in his Journal for November 8, 1734, says, I rode with my father to see the Colonel’s great dam.” (Colonel Thomas Westbrook’s and Samuel Waldo’s dam at Presumpscot Falls). “It was here, and about this time (November 8, 1734), that the parson (Thomas Smith) saw the large shoal of salmon (‘an acre of fish, mostly salmon’) congregated below and stopped from going up the river by the dam.”

1737 (Westbrook) Thomas Chute is first settler in New Marblehead.

1738 (Gorham) At a proprietors’ meeting in Marblehead, Massachusetts, four men are granted “said Proprietors’ Rights to an interest in any one of the falls of water in the Main River, called The Presumpscot River, lying above the Great Bridge lately Erected over said River… (they) shall begin to Erect a Sawmill on the said falls on or before the first day of August next (1739). But before they had made much headway, the Indians appeared and strenuously opposed the proceeding claiming that they owned the land on both sides of the river and that the necessary dams hindered the fish from coming up the river, whereby their food was endangered.”

1739 Westbrook town meeting: “Voted, that John Wait go to make answer to the presentment against the great dam across the Presumpscot River. This was for want of a fishway in the dam (at Saccarappa).”

1741 General Court passes an act that “all the owners or occupants of any mill-dam heretofore erected and made across such river or stream where the fish can’t conveniently pass over, shall make a sufficient way either round or through such dam for the passage of such fish.”

1744 Chief Polin burns mills at Presumpscot Falls and Saccarappa.

1747 Community fish weir operated by Samuel Staples.

May 14, (Falmouth) Chief Polin and his men canoe down Presumpscot, attack a group of New

1756 Marblehead men who had left the fort to plant a field. Polin was killed, and supposedly his body was carried back to Sebago Lake by canoe where he was buried.

1770’s (Gorham, Windham) Trout at this time were abundant in the river. “Nicholas Harding … when a young man lived from his fourteenth to his twenty-first year at the Falls (Great Falls) cutting timber, and sawing in the mill… He said that they considered a hook and line as much a part of their fit-out as they did an axe, and often he would stand in the mill and catch a dozen trout of such a size that they would be quite a load for him to take to the house.”

June Captain Thomas Coulson’s mast ship and four sailors held captive for several days; he was a local Tory;

1775 his ship was to pick up masts bound for Royal Navy; masts were hidden by people of New Casco.

Oct 30, (Gorham) Selectmen of Gorham and Agents for Standish and Bridgton petition the Governor of

1781 Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Legislature for “redress of this grievance” which they cite as obstruction of the River by Dams. The reasons that they cite include the fact that “Plenty of fish (they cite shad, bass and salmon) coming even to their doors would greatly contribute to their (the early settlers’) support” and that the runs of anadromous fish benefit cod fishermen. “For it is well known that the small fish running in shore for fresh water streams draw the cod after them.” They went on to state their view that “ít appears to be a grievance that ought no longer quietly to be borne (?) that one great source of life which Nature has provided for Public Use should be destroyed to serve the interest of a few individuals.” This petition cites repeated previous petitions on this same issue but a continuing problem. (Records of the Maine State Archives.)

May 9, Gorham Town meeting “voted to petition the General Court for an order for the removal of several

1786 Dams that obstruct the Fish, coming up the Presumpscot River.”

1793 “Proprietors of the dam at Great Falls were found guilty of not keeping open a good and sufficient sluice way for the passage of salmon, shad, and alewives, as required by law.”

1795 (Gorham, Windham) A charter was obtained to construct a canal from Sebago Lake to the Presumpscot River at Saccarappa.

Early 1800’s Rueben Merrill’s brickyard on estuary at Sandy Point; the Presumpscot River is rich in marine clay.

1800’s “The Presumpscot was … rather famous for the full rigged brigs produced on its banks … (a) class of craft which were very popular in the West India business…”

June 4, 1814 Freshet carried away Gambo and Horse Beef (Mallison) bridges.

1818 Two men from Southwick, Massachusetts buy 25 acres, and erect powder mills at Gambo.

1828 – 1901 25 explosions at Gambo Powder Mill, 45 men killed.

1829 Cumberland & Oxford Canal opened.

1830’s First textile mill at Saccarappa, produced sailcloth.

1831 “May 5, 1831, a large slide occurred on the north side of the river near Pride’s bridge.”

1840 A pamphlet of the period lists 15 mills in Windham alone.

1843 Presumpscot experienced its largest flood, damaged Gambo Mills; wrecked Mallison Falls saw mill.

1845 (Gorham, Windham) Sawdust and bark from paper mill at lower falls source of complaints on river pollution.

1850’s (Gorham, Windham) Casco Iron Works produced iron to be sent by ship for sale in foreign countries.

1854 Samuel Warren buys mill at Cumberland Mills Dam.

1856 Largest ship built on river at Samuel N. Knight’s yard: Artisan, 923 tons.

1862 Gambo powder mills (Oriental Powder Company) “ran night and day” for the duration of the Civil War;

Nov 22, A mudslide occurred about one third of a mile below the village of Cumberland Mills: “the bed of the

1868 river some two hundred feet in width was filled for half a mile with debris… The old bed of the river was obliterated and the dam formed caused a rise of the water some fifteen feet, stopping for a time the mills above.”

1871 US Commission on Fish and Fisheries: “the Presumpscot, for instance, is naturally a salmon river, but that species is now extinct there. It will be necessary in order to (sic) its restoration, that a large number of young salmon be introduced to the river, and it is very desirable that it be done as soon, at least, as the fishways are completed.”

1889 First hydroelectric plant in Maine: Smelt Hill Power Station at Presumpscot Falls.

1895 Riverton Park constructed near current Route 302 bridge.

19__? Androscoggin Pulp Company at Little Falls.

1946 Clam flats closed.

1950’s Estuary stench so bad that helicopter dumped lime.

1976 SD Warren’s cleansing and purification plant opens as do Westbrook and Portland sewage treatment plants.

1999 Cessation of pulping operation.

2002 Projected removal of Smelt Hill Dam.

Cumulative Impacts to Water Resources

The River, with a drop of 267 feet over its original 27 mile course[2], was known historically as a rapid river. Because of the technological limitations of the day, it offered more opportunities for water power than larger Maine rivers. This led to its early development. Construction of nine dams, including one at Sebago Lake used by the Presumpscot Water Power Company in 1878 as a storage reservoir for the downstream dams, as well as the settlement and industrial development of the basin, clearing of land for agricultural uses, timber harvesting, all changed the hydrology, water quality, and aquatic habitat provided by the River.

Activities which have impacted water resources include:

· 9 Dams – which have altered flows and converted 22 out of 27 miles of generally fast flowing water to impoundments, fragmented habitat, and blocked runs of anadromous fish;

· 5 waste water discharges – which add chemicals, sanitary wastes, and industrial waste materials to the river and reduce water quality. These plants are licensed to discharge up to 25 million gallons per day[3];

· Development in the watershed – 31% of the lower watershed for which land use information is available is now developed. This increases erosion and warms surface runoff, and adds pollutants to surface and ground water; and

· Agriculture – 16% of the lower watershed for which land use information is available is in agricultural use. This also increases erosion, warms surface runoff, and adds pollutants to surface and ground water.

These activities have cumulatively altered the River’s water resources. Impacts include:

· Altered flow regimes

One of the most significant changes to the River, dramatically altered hydrology, resulted from controlling flows from Sebago Lake and the development of dams and impoundments on the River. The construction of the dam at Sebago Lake added 252,000 acre feet of water storage to contain spring runoff, allowing it to be released more gradually than would occur under natural, unregulated, conditions.

Naturally occurring flows were undoubtedly more variable than flows that have occurred with regulation by the dam at Sebago. The figure which follows compares a typical hydrograph of flows in the Presumpscot River at Westbrook with a hydrograph for the Ossipee River, a comparably sized river with significant headwater lakes. This comparison indicates that the principal effect of the flow regulation at Sebago Lake has been to augment low flow periods. In addition, the hydrographs suggest that flow regulation also moderates high spring flows, and tempers the effects of summer storms (the Presumpscot River is less flashy in the summer).

In addition, current velocities have been decreased by the dams in place along the River, which have largely converted the River from free flowing to a series of impoundments.

Changes in Water Quality

Because the basin was originally almost entirely forested, the original water quality naturally occurring in the Presumpscot River was in all likelihood very similar to that in Sebago Lake, its source.

In 2001, the Portland Water District’s draft State of the Lake report notes that the Lake itself still has outstanding water quality. “This fact is demonstrated by almost any scientific measure of water quality – clarity, nutrient levels, concentrations of dissolved elements, amount of attached and floating algae. But you do not need to be a scientist to see that the lake is unusually clean – any first time visitor to the lake notices immediately that you can see the bottom even in 20 to 30 feet of water. This is true of few other lakes in Maine or anywhere in the country.”

The cumulative impacts of waste discharges, watershed development, and damming of the waters which spill from Sebago Lake and flow seaward through the river corridor, are quantifiable. State and volunteer monitoring studies have measured these impacts using indicators of water quality. Changes in water quality include:

· Increased Total Suspended Solids

· Increased Dissolved Solids

· Lowered Dissolved Oxygen

· Increased Bacterial Levels

· Shift to Pollution-Tolerant Aquatic Organisms

· Elevated Temperature

The table which follows summarizes the water chemistry at the PWD intake of Sebago Lake and compares it to downstream water quality at West Falmouth. Note that the available river data water quality predates the cessation of the pulping operation and the resultant improvements in water quality are not reflected. Based on recent sampling for aquatic macroinvertebrates (mostly insects), SAPPI reports that the River below Westbrook has a 60% probability of meeting Class B water quality standards for aquatic life.

Comparison of Raw Water Chemistry of Sebago Lake and the Presumpscot River in Falmouth
Water Quality Parameter	Sebago Lake	Lower Presumpscot River**
pH (Standard Units)	6.9	7.3 (1995 field average)
Alkalinity (mg/l as CaCO₃)	4.4	2.5 (1979-80 average)
Dissolved oxygen (mg/l)	13	11.4 April, 1995 7.4 June, 1995
Specific Conductance (uS)	52	137 April, 1995 154 June, 1995
Total residue (mg/l)	25	73.4 (1994-1995 average, dissolved)
Turbidity (NTU)	0.25	4.9 (1980-1995 average)
Nitrogen, NO₂+NO₃, dissolved* (mg/l)	0.271	.14 (1994-1995 average)
Sodium, dissolved* (mg/l as Na)	3.39	17 (1995 average)
Calcium, dissolved* (mg/l as Ca)	2.54	6.4 (1995 average)
Chloride, dissolved* (mg/l as Cl)	6	16.3 (1995 average)
Sulfate, dissolved* (mg/l)	3.7	8.3 (1995 average)
Phosphorus, total(mg/l as P)	0.005	0.03 (1995 average)
Iron, dissolved* (mg/l as Fe)	Less than 0.03	.08 (1991-1995 average)
Manganese, dissolved* (mg/l as Mn)	0.004	.0286 (1994-1995 average)
Sources: Portland Water District – samples collected in 2000 in the lower bay of the lake at the PWD intake, and USGS – monitoring site in West Falmouth (river sampling dates vary due to data availability) Sebago lake raw water samples are unfiltered. *No figures are available for after the 1999 closing of the SAPPI pulp mill, which significantly reduced discharges to the river

Changes in Aquatic Habitat

Increased amounts of cleared land elevate the temperature of rivers as runoff warmed by the land surface flows into the river. Impoundments which are larger than the original river and less shaded by shoreline trees expose more water to heating by the sun. This can also increase water temperatures. Upstream, in the mainstem and tributaries, temperature changes have occurred due to land development and to the slowing of the water by the presence of the dams. This is evidenced by the change from the native cold water fish species, such as trout, to warm water non-native species such as bass.

In addition, increases in the amount and rate of runoff resulting from development and clearing, increase erosion and sedimentation. According to MEDEP, in streams and rivers impacted by sedimentation, the aquatic community shifts to one more tolerant of turbid water, and the overall abundance of fish, snails, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates decreases. In the Presumpscot the community of aquatic life has been adversely affected by cumulative impacts. Macroinvertebrate sampling in the Presumpscot revealed a shift from pollution sensitive insect taxa to a predominance of snails and worms, adapted to utilization of settled solids. However, recent Biomonitoring efforts below Westbrook show that the River below the SAPPI mill has a 60% probability of meeting Class B water quality standards for aquatic life.

Streams such as Otter Brook, Colley Wright Brook, Inkhorn Brook, Pleasant River, Little River, Nasons Brook, and Tannery Brook, have all been altered by the impacts of development in the watershed. For example, sedimentation from runoff has changed the channels of these streams and increased turbidity. These streams were reportedly once coldwater sources for the River, with large populations of trout and even salmon in predevelopment times. Today the hydrology of the smaller streams has changed into slower, wider streams that carry sediment from land use into the mainstem of the Presumpscot.

CUMULATIVE IMPACTS TO ESTUARINE RESOURCES

Changes in the river’s water resources are also felt in the estuarine portion of the Presumpscot, where the fresh water meets the salt water of Casco Bay. Historically, the estuary was a rich feeding ground for fish and birds, including migratory birds who used the estuary as a staging area. While birds still feed in the estuary and migratory fish still move into the River from the sea each summer, the diversity and abundance of life historically supported by the estuary has been diminished by the load of pollutants carried to the sea from upstream and the continuing loss of populations of anadromous fish, some of which served as food sources for larger predatory fish, birds and mammals in the estuary.

impacts to Salinity

Because the Presumpscot has such a large volume of storage available in Sebago Lake, and hence flows can be closely regulated to even them out over the course of the year, fresh water flows to the estuary are much more consistent to the Presumpscot estuary than they would be if flows on the river were not dam controlled.

It is unclear what estuarine species are benefited or disadvantaged by the existence of more stable fresh water flows to Presumpscot estuary, but it is clear that the system is different (more stable, less dynamic) that it would be under natural conditions.

Impacts to the Chemistry of Estuarine Sediments

The Presumpscot River estuary is a large depositional area where fine-grained sediments carried downstream by the River are accumulating. A sediment study undertaken by the Casco Bay Estuary project in 1991 showed that the fine-grained sediments of the River’s estuary have moderately e