Turners Falls power canal water drawdown extended to Oct. 20

Kari Kastengo, who is on the board of trustees at the Connecticut River Conservancy, searches puddles in the drained power canal in Turners Falls for sea lampreys and other acquatic life that can be saved during the annual draw down of the water level for maintenance.

Kari Kastengo, who is on the board of trustees at the Connecticut River Conservancy, searches puddles in the drained power canal in Turners Falls for sea lampreys and other acquatic life that can be saved during the annual draw down of the water level for maintenance. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Staff Writer

Published: 10-14-2024 3:56 PM

TURNERS FALLS – FirstLight’s annual drawdown of water has been extended for continued maintenance on the Turners Falls power canal left dike until Oct. 20, three weeks longer than anticipated.

According to FirstLight, the planned maintenance project was related to the installation of a seepage management system that would address the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s dam safety requirements.

“In recent days, FirstLight’s project team and expert consultants identified the need to drawdown the power canal to safely perform the excavations necessary to complete the project and determined that an approximately three-week extension of the annual drawdown was the best approach,” the company said in a statement.

In an Oct. 11 email, FirstLight Communication Manager Claire Belanger said that water seepage is normal, though if the water were to collect underneath the dike, structural issues could occur and pose an issue later on.

“There is no indication that this has happened, but the proactive installation of a seepage management system will resolve the issue and prevent future problems,” Belanger stated.

While the canal drawdown is in progress, maintenance on the 5th Street Bridge has been extended by the state Department of Transportation until Oct. 18 as well. Montague Town Administrator Walter Ramsey told the Recorder that MassDOT is taking advantage of the drawdown to make these bridge repairs after an initial bridge closure on Oct. 1 identified further repairs that could be made while the canal is still dewatered.

Migratory fish concern

The dewatering of the power canal has coincided with downstream fish migration within the river. FirstLight has said it is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) to find best options for fish passage during migration while FirstLight keeps the power canal dewatered.

“We identified that the best option to mitigate impacts to fish passage is to maintain river flows above 1500 [cubic feet per second],” the FirstLight Oct. 3 statement reads. “Flows are currently above 1500 cfs and have been since the drawdown began, so we have not had to implement operational changes. Should flows drop below 1500 cfs, during off-peak fish passage hours, we will work to retain enough flow to spill 1500 cfs during peak fish passage hours to support migration.”

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The statement said that FirstLight will work with USFWS and MassWildlife to monitor the situation, and make alterations as needed.

As part of this annual dewatering, initiatives to protect wildlife within the power canal have been taken, including a sea lamprey rescue on Sept. 23 hosted by the Connecticut River Conservancy (CCR).

The sea lamprey are a migratory fish, and the rescue was designed to collect the young lamprey from the dewatered canal bed that haven’t migrated to the Atlantic Ocean to mature, then return to the river as adults where they bring important nutrients to the river. This year, volunteers collected around 3,000 sea lamprey across stages of development, and between 500 and 1,000 fish of other species.

In a blog post by CCR recapping this year’s rescue, CCR said that the dewatering from “unnatural infrastructure and hydropower facility operations create these issues for migratory fish in the first place.”

“FirstLight, the company that owns the power canal, currently has no legal responsibility to rescue any of the thousands of fish that die while they drain the canal for maintenance, nor do they have any financial responsibility to support our rescue efforts,” the post reads.

The FirstLight statement from Oct. 11 reiterates it’s commitment to protecting the wildlife of the river, and says communication with USFWS and MassWildlife will continue.

Staff Writer Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.