Welcome

The Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition is a partnership of individuals, organizations, and agencies collaborating to restore and protect the Presumpscot River watershed. We work to realize the greatest good for the human and ecological communities that share the river's resources by cooperating on various projects to realize the goals set forth in the Presumpscot River Management Plan.

News: Presumpscot River Set to Re-open for Fish!
In October, 2006, Friends of the Presumpscot River formally requested that Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife order Fish Passage at Cumberland Mills dam (at the paper mill) in Westbrook. On June 29, 2009, Roland Martin, commissioner of IF&W issued his decision, writing, “I conclude that fish passage should be constructed and maintained at the Cumberland Mills Dam, in order to conserve, develop or restore anadromous or migratory fish resources.”

Because the Cumberland Mills dam does not generate electricity, it does not need a license. It is the first dam on the river and stops 100% of sea-run fish from reaching their spawning grounds. It is also a huge obstacle for American Eels, which reproduce in the Sargasso Sea and swim up the East Coast and into the Presumpscot River to grow into adults. Federal licenses for the next five dams upstream from Cumberland Mills all require fish passage – once fish present themselves at the dam.

As stated in the 2003 Presumpscot River Management Plan, fish passage at Cumberland Mills is key to opening up historic habitat for many miles of river and tributaries upstream from Westbrook. Restoring thriving fisheries in the Presumpscot will benefit the fish, the river’s ecosystem, and people throughout the Presumpscot watershed. It will also benefit Casco Bay and the Gulf of Maine as hundreds of thousands of young fish swim out into the ocean for the first time every year.