TURNERS FALLS — As part of FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s power canal drawdown, the Connecticut River Conservancy spearheaded its yearly rescue of aquatic life on Monday, where an estimated 1,700 creatures were recovered from the floor of the drained canal.
The rescue effort was led by the Greenfield-based nonprofit with the help of 35 community volunteers, as well as staff from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Silvio O. Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and FirstLight. More than 600 sea lampreys and 160 shad, along with hundreds of other fish of various species, were rescued.
After the annual power canal drawdown began on Sunday, earlier than expected, the group descended to the muddy bottom of the canal to pick up as many living aquatic organisms as possible, Connecticut River Conservancy Massachusetts River Steward Nina Gordon-Kirsch said Monday.
“The general public cares a lot about the aquatic life and showed up to save them,” Gordon-Kirsch said. “More people showed up than we expected, which was a great turnout.”
However, Gordon-Kirsch said volunteers were not able to rescue as many aquatic creatures as in 2024. Last year, they rescued 1,000 juvenile sea lampreys, 2,000 larvae, and between 500 and 1,000 fish of other species.
“We’re not actually sure why we rescued less this year, but we do know that there was a last-minute change in what time FirstLight was going to draw the canal down,” Gordon-Kirsch explained.
She said numerous factors could have contributed to the reduced number of rescued creatures this year, like spawning, food availability, river flow and possible impacts from the extended power canal drawdown of 2024.
“While it’s difficult to determine how many fish needed to be rescued in the first place, we do know that we have greater success at finding and keeping fish alive the sooner we are able to get into the canal safely after it has been drawn down, especially if it is sunny out,” noted Kate Buckman, aquatic ecologist with the Connecticut River Conservancy.
According to the Connecticut River Conservancy’s website on migratory fish, sea lampreys only contain cartilage. The creatures have no jaws — only a flat, sucking face. Sea lampreys are some of the oldest species of fish, beating out sharks and sturgeon in available fossil records. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dates the sea lamprey at 340 million years, meaning the species existed in the Paleozoic Era and survived mass extinction.
Although the species is millions of years old, the sea lampreys rescued from the Turners Falls Power Canal are in the larval or juvenile phase, meaning they will occupy the fresh water for three to five years before migrating to the ocean as they mature. These creatures transport important nutrients as they migrate between the Atlantic Ocean and fresh water, like the Connecticut River.
Buckman explained in an email that the dewatering has an impact on the creatures, most notably through a lack of water. Even creatures in small water holes are at risk when the water evaporates and they are unable to escape.
“Submerged aquatic vegetation that is left high and dry may also begin to die and rot, and the impact of the degradation of this material both before and after rewetting can have short-term effects on oxygen content of the surface sediment, water quality and habitat suitability,” she explained about the plants in the canal that are also exposed by the dewatering.
Moving forward, Gordon-Kirsch said FirstLight will be expected to take the lead on aquatic rescue during the yearly drawdown as part of the relicensing requirements for FirstLight — an action the energy company not been legally mandated to take thus far. Gordon-Kirsch said this is a mandate the Connecticut River Conservancy pushed for, and it is included in the Water Quality Certification issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection as part of the relicensing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Still, the conservancy, USGS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will continue to be involved.
“[Connecticut River Conservancy] will definitely make sure that it happens every year. We’ll be committed to saving the aquatic life here during the canal drawdown,” Gordon-Kirsch said when asked about the continuation of the program.
Canal drawdown extended
Although the goal was to complete necessary maintenance work by Sept. 27, FirstLight will be extending the canal drawdown until Oct. 3.
FirstLight Communications Manager Claire Belanger confirmed that a delay to the start of the pedestrian bridge work made the extension necessary.
This bridge, owned by FirstLight, required Montague’s assistance with asbestos abatement costs as part of a settlement agreement for land easements around Fifth Street and Canal Street from 2021, when FirstLight paid the town $250,000 for water, sewer, gas and electricity work in this area, including for the footbridge. The 2021 agreement holds that FirstLight is responsible for demolition and engineering, whereas the town is only obligated to support the company in this process.
On Monday, the Montague Selectboard discussed the progress of the footbridge abatement.
Crews found vermiculite that was not removed during the work. Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan-Zeller said this requires abatement before demolition, and FirstLight and Montague are still negotiating about whether FirstLight will agree to pay $6,150 of the $10,747 associated with the remaining vermiculite abatement.
Nolan-Zeller said if FirstLight can pay the $6,150, this would avoid an overage in the contingency budget associated with the project. If the town is asked to pay the full cost, he said he will seek Selectboard authorization to use money from the Community Development Discretionary Account, the Bid Overrun Account, or from the $10 million demolition budget for the Strathmore mill complex.
Notably, this canal drawdown comes months after FirstLight drained the Connecticut River above the Turners Falls dam to repair a bascule gate after a June oil spill. Belanger said the bascule gates are not part of the maintenance plan during the drawdown.
For the duration of the drawdown, the Canalside Rail Trail has been closed and detours have been posted. Additionally, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be conducting bridge repairs on the Fifth Street Bridge during the drawdown, and it is expected to remain closed until Saturday, Sept. 27.