Ecological and Physical Habitat Responses to Removal of a Hydroelectric Dam on the Sandy River, Maine, Based on Monitoring Data

The Sandy River Hydroelectric Project was located on a major tributary to the Kennebec River.The dam had become uneconomical and it was removed was removed In 2006 to enhance habitat connectivity  and reestablish four miles of riverine habitat. Conservation interests and fishery agencies supporting the project desiredto document the relative success of the removal in restoring native fish resources and habitat.  Both physicial and and ecological data were collected at reference stations in both the impoundment and downstream tailwater so that a time series of pre- and post-removal empriical comapriisons could be made.  Physical data iclluded bed slope, cross sectional profile surveys at multiple transects, dpeth and velocity measurements at base flow, and  substrate mapping.  The fish asemblage was surveyed at a series of stations  upstream from, within and below the impoundment using Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) sampling protocols recently established for large New England rivers (Yoder et al., 2009).  Data were then alaysed to evaluate the structure and function of the aqautic ciommunity in the context of changes to habitat, and to trends in in similar data sets collected at other dam removal sites throughout the Kennebec watershed