The Amoskeag Fishways Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Environmental Education

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THE MERRIMACK RIVER IN DOWNTOWN MANCHESTER ACCELERATES AS IT FLOWS BY THE AMOSKEAG DAM…

FIRST CONSTRUCTED TO POWER THE MILLS THAT LINED THE RIVER, TODAY, PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE OPERATES THE DAM AS A HYDRO-ELECTRIC PLANT.

TO COMPLY WITH THE FEDERAL CLEAN WATER ACT, PSNH INSTALLED A FISH LADDER AT THE DAM IN 1989.

IT'S CALLED THE AMOSKEAG FISHWAYS, AND IT HELPS FISH SWIM UPSTREAM TO BREED.

TEN YEARS AGO, PSNH JOINED WITH FEDERAL AND STATE OFFICIALS AND NVIRONMENTAL GROUPS TO CREATE AN EDUCATION CENTER AT THE BASE OF THE DAM.

PSNH OWNS THE CENTER AND PROVIDES MOST OF THE FUNDING.

IIAN MACLEOD IS WITH THE NEW HAMPSHIRE AUDUBON SOCIETY.

MacLeod

“We’ve always had a good relationship with Public Service Company of New Hampshire and New Hampshire Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and we started chatting about the opportunity for New Hampshire Audubon to become involved as the managing partner at the Amoskeag Fishways. It’s really been a wonderful opportunity for all of those entities to work together and further the cause of environmental education in the state.”

AMOSKEAG FISHWAYS CELEBRATED THE PARTNERSHIPS 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH ITS ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE.

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WENDY SCHORR IS THE FISHWAY'S SENIOR NATURALIST.

SHE SAYS THE MERRIMACK STILL SUFFERS FROM THE RUN-OFF FROM STREETS AND HIGHWAYS.

BUT COMPARED TO ITS CONDITION YEARS AGO, THE RIVER HAS COME A LONG WAY.

Schorr

“Many people have come in and told us about how you could watch it flowing yellow or blue or red or whatever color that the dye was that was going in that day.”

VISITORS AT THE OPEN HOUSE WERE AWARE OF THE CHALLENGES THE RIVER FACED.

MARLENA GAGNON OF MANCHESTER BROUGHT HER 6-YEAR-OLD.

Gagnon

“Well, there’s been a tremendous change. I know in the years that I’ve grown up it used to be so polluted. The nice thing about it now is I can take my daughter down to the river and she can actually see a cleaner river.” (NAT MUSEUM FADE OUT WITH OUTCUE)

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WHILE THE MERRIMACK HAS SHOWN DRAMATIC RECOVERY OVER THE DECADES, PROGRESS IN THE PAST TEN YEARS HAS BEEN SLOW BUT STEADY.

AMOSKEAG FISHWAYS’ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HELEN DALBECK.

Dalbeck

“Well, the river itself is a Class B river, and that means it’s swim-able and fish-able but not drinkable. …..It’s not drinkable because there’s still, you know, a problem with the quality of the water. So there’s still quite a bit of work to do on that end.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE AUDUBON’S IIAN MACLEOD POINTS TO ONE VERY VISIBLE EXAMPLE OF PROGRESS OVER THE PAST DECADE.

MacLeod

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the Bald Eagle wintering population in downtown Manchester. Manchester is the best place in the State of New Hampshire to see bald eagles, which amazes a lot of people, right in city. And it’s really because of the Amoskeag Dam. There’s always open water in the City of Manchester because of the hydro station.”

THE RIVER'S HEALTH IN MANCHESTER IS MONITORED BY LOCAL VOLUNTEERS, AS WELL AS BY CITY AND STATE OFFICIALS.

THE FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION IS ABOUT TO ISSUE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF ITS OWN…IN RESPONSE TO THE PSNH AMOSKEAG DAM HYDORO PLANT LICENSE APPLICATION.

AMONG THE PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS, PSNH WOULD INCREASE WATER FLOW.

COMPANY OFFICIALS SAY THE INCREASE WILL CUT POWER GENERATION, BUT IT SHOULD BENEFIT THE RIVER'S HABIT.

FOR NHPR NEWS…THIS IS JOE COX.