Residents Vote to Remove Mill Pond Dam on NH's Oyster River

After a long battle and a couple of setbacks, it looks as though Mill Pond Dam on the Oyster River in Durham, New Hampshire, is finally going to be removed. A few days ago, townspeople voted to remove the dam after an earlier vote by the Town Council had been challenged. In the end, 74% of voters agreed that the dam should be removed; a notable margin of victory.

Mill Pond Dam, a 140’ low-wall structure, impounds roughly 10-acres of water. Constructed in 1913, it replaced the last of a series of wood dams that had been in place since the 1600s. It was originally built to to supply water power, a function it no longer serves. The dam blocks the upstream passage of river herring, sea-run smelt, American eel, and possibly brook trout. The Lower Oyster River will now run unimpeded to the ocean for the first time in 400 years.

New Hampshire NFC sponsored an informational card presenting the facts that was distributed around town - see below. They also created an informational website. And a really cool sticker - see below. Chapter members testified at hearings, stood outside with signs, talked to residents, and did what they could do to support the effort.

Special thanks to NH NFC Chair Nick Martin, Vice Chair Jared Kane, and board members Scot Calitri, Ben Brunt, Justin Hardesty, and Joe Forrestall (the man in the fish costume with the NFC hat showing) and his wife Maggie, as well as National Vice Chair Emily Bastian.