Let the Naugatuck River run silver again
Old timers say that in spring, when the forsythia or “shadbush” blooms, the shad are in the rivers. There was a time when shad and other migratory fish swam up New England rivers in such great numbers that the waters “ran silver” with their flashing bodies. The Naugatuck River would have had its share of shad, salmon, river herring and eels, too. But not today — these migrations from the sea are effectively blocked by Kinneytown Dam. With safe, timely, and effective fish passage upriver we could have them back again.
The Naugatuck, like so many northeastern rivers, was harnessed for industry. Water power generated from a string of dams drove the brass and other factories that in the 19th century brought economic prosperity to the Valley. But by the mid-1900s, manufacturing activity faded, leaving the dams behind. Little attention was paid to the ecology of the forgotten river until locals — seeing its potential despite its pollution — united in 2008 to form the Naugatuck River Revival Group. This was grassroots work at its finest, from hauling discarded tires and shopping carts off the river bottom, to advocating for all forms of restoration, including dam removals.
Dam removals are the most effective means to reopen rivers to fish migration. That’s why the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, along with a coalition that included the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, raised more than $10 million to take down five of the Naugatuck’s mainstem dams over about 30 miles of river and to create a fish bypass channel at the Tingue Dam in Seymour where the dam could not be safely removed.
This laudable effort to open the river would seem then to have set the stage for a grand resurgence of shad and the other migrants. But not yet — just below Seymour and barely visible through the trees from Route 8 is one more barrier little-known by the public: Kinneytown Dam. A hydro-dam owned by ENEL — a large multinational corporation — Kinneytown generates less than one megawatt of power. That’s well under onetenth of 1 percent of the state’s electricity needs, yet by blocking fish migrations, this dam negates the value of the entire restoration upriver of it.
To visit Kinneytown Dam at any time is to view a tired-looking cement monolith with giant horizontal cracks, numerous leaks, and bent rebar sticking out of it. But look closely in springtime and you will see the force of life pressing against the dam, hundreds of individual fish — even trout and salmon — frustrated in their attempts to move upriver to spawn. Some perish, their bodies drying in the sun. This occurs right next to a lengthy, zig-zagging engineered fish ladder intended to allow passage over the dam. It has been a failure.
ENEL’s license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stipulates the company must ensure safe, timely and effective fish passage over the dam, and requires that the operator count the fish that make it through the ladder to assess its effectiveness. The application for funding of the Tingue Dam bypass by the National Oceanic Administration and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection estimates that a free-flowing Naugatuck could support runs of 20,000 shad and 30,000 river herring every year. Yet over the last decade, fewer than 100 shad in total have been counted passing the dam. And in 2020, zero shad passed Kinneytown Dam. While well-intended, the fish ladder is not sufficing for these fish, and as a result the Naugatuck Valley is suffering.
Restored runs of shad and river herring would help revive the ecology of the Naugatuck — these fish transport critical nutrients between fresh water and the sea. And the presence of catchable numbers of shad would excite the angling community — fishermen travel far and wide to catch this seasonally available game fish — bringing tourist dollars to Valley towns.
Kinneytown Dam has blocked fish migrations up the Naugatuck for nearly two centuries. Next spring shadbush in the Naugatuck Valley will bloom again. When, though, will meaningful runs of shad return? It’s high time for ENEL to reopen the Naugatuck.