CAMDEN — The public is invited to conversations about what river restoration and sea level rise adaptation could look like where the Megunticook River enters Camden Harbor. The conversation will take place via Zoom, and held over the course of three days, June 27 and 30, and July 2.

Join Camden town officials, project partners, and other community members for a series of conversations on the aesthetic and environmental considerations surrounding the Montgomery Dam, sluiceway, and adjacent seawall. 

Topics will include reviewing draft concept designs, discussing site constraints and opportunities, and gathering input from the community.

The focus of the meetings will center around the Montgomery Dam and its relationship to Main Street buildings and the Harbor Park path and seawall; but, Camden is also engaged in a larger assessment made possible through a National Coastal Resilience Fund grant. For more information and links to previous meetings, visit https://www.camdenmaine.gov/news_detail_T50_R74.php 

In 2018, facing costly repairs to the Montgomery Dam, a feasibility study was done to better understand the options moving forward.

It was found that the dam significantly increases flood risk in the downtown area while also creating the first in a series of fish passage barriers to species including alewives, blueback herring, sea-run brook trout, and American eel, said the town, in a news release.

“The study also found that dam removal would provide the lowest cost option to the Town over the next 50 years and be the most likely to receive outside funding from environmental organizations and state and federal agencies due to increased flood protection and access to habitat,” the release said.

 In 2019, Camden received a municipal planning and technical assistance grant from the Maine Coastal Program for engineering and design for full or partial removal of the Montgomery Dam as well as reconfiguration of the connected seawall. 

The purpose of the grant is to do the design and engineering work needed for an option that would allow both the Megunticook River and Harbor Park to be better prepared for climate change with less of a need for ongoing maintenance.   

Any decisions about whether to move forward with construction plans will require multiple levels of approval from the Select Board, the Library Board of Trustees, and finally Town voters.

No decision has been made and public input will help the town determine the next steps in the process. 

“At this point, we know that the dam and seawall require significant investment and that doing nothing is not an option,” the town said, in the release. “Significant grant funding is available for projects that restore habitat, reduce storm risk, and implement nature based solutions that require little to no maintenance..

“We will look for opportunities to benefit adjacent properties and businesses through the design and will discuss how specific and shared goals might correspond with ecological restoration, tourism, recreation, connectivity to the working waterfront and sources of potential grant funding.”

For help with registration or other questions, email amckellar@camdenmaine.gov