Talbot Mills Dam Removal Project
Event Date:
Start Time: 6:30 PM
End Time: 8:30 PM
Location: Via Zoom or in-person at Buck Auditorium, Town Hall, 365 Boston Rd, Billerica, MA
Zoom LinkTalbot Public Meeting Flyer 6-29-22
Concord River Diadromous Fish Restoration needs your voice!
Please join the public meeting on the status of the Talbot Mills Dam Removal Project.
Diadromous fish (Atlantic salmon, Alewives, Herring, Shad, Eels) have not had clear passageways on the Concord, Sudbury and Assabet Rivers (SUAsCo Watershed) since the early 1700’s. The primary impediment to fish passage in the Concord River is the Talbot Mills Dam in Billerica.
Opening up fish passage at the Billerica Dam will allow fish to access the entire SuAsCo Watershed – and the largest acreage of fish habitat in all of New England.
“Prior to damming the Concord River, the area was used by generations of Native Americans as an encampment and fishing grounds. The first dam was erected in 1711 and for the next 150 years various legal disputes between generations of farmers and dam owners resulted in the dam being removed and rebuilt several times. The current dam built in 1828 had a fishway of unsure effectiveness but it was filled with concrete in the 1960’s. There is currently no fish ladder or other fish passageway to allow diadromous fish to migrate. A group led by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries with support from NOAA Restoration Center, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and MassDEP along with OARS, MRWC, [LP&CT], and volunteer River Wardens are actively involved with the potential removal of the Talbot Mills Dam.” -Dr. Carl Soderland, Trout Unlimited Nor’East Director
Attend via a hybrid meeting on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 6:30 PM to learn more about the process and concerns of local citizens and town government.
For further information about the Talbot Mills Dam see:
www.mas.gov Concord River Diadromous Fish Restoration
www.americanrivers.org River Dam-Dam Removal Pros and Cons
