Merrimack River
A hard working river making a comeback
The power of a river has attracted humans for thousands of years, where successive waves of technology has allowed human communities to thrive and flourish. The Pawtucket Falls are a dramatic 32-foot-high set of falls located in Lowell, Massachusetts upstream from Newburyport, Massachusetts where the river drains into the Gulf of Maine. For thousands of years the indigenous Penacook, Agawam, Naumkeag, Nashua, Souhegan and the other tribal nation members of the Pennacook Confederacy developed technology of weirs, nets, and other structures to harvest the abundant migratory fish at the falls and throughout the over 5,000 square mile watershed as habitat.
European explorers made contact in the 16th century here and later colonists adopted what they heard as the name of the river as the Merrimack, which in Algonquin translates to a “place of strong current.” The watershed’s mainstem and tributaries include numerous falls arising from the 117-mile descent from the source in the high mountain elevations in central New Hampshire. The power of those many falls are central to the story of the Merrimack.
By the early 18th century European colonists began introducing their technology of canals, dams, and water powered mills. This well-trod history of settlement and industrialization throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries created wealth and technological innovations as well as pollution, and dramatic declines in the migratory fish that had sustained humans for tens of thousands of years. The industrialization of the Merrimack was built on centuries of impacts to the indigenous nations including epidemics, forced displacement, and warfare.
Where is the Merrimack River?
The Merrimack River runs primarily through New Hampshire and meets the ocean on the Massachusetts coast.
Since the passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972 the health of the Merrimack River has improved dramatically. While New England states were early actors in establishing state water quality standards and permits in the 1940s through the creation of the New England Interstate Water Polllution Control Commission, it wasn’t until the 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act were enacted that significant progress on restoration began.
Today the cities and towns in the watershed operate under federal and state permits and have required plans to meet federal requirements to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows and stormwater pollution. Environmental advocates in the watershed deserve great credit for ensuring these changes were made, including the Nashua River Watershed Association. The NRWA began work in the early 1960s as an informal group of citizens and its brand of creative advocacy and the tireless work of Marion Stoddard and others helped to launch river advocacy organizations around the country.
The legacy of dams on the river presents significant challenges to the restoration of migratory fish species. There are likely over a thousand non-functional dams throughout the watershed as well as six mainstem and dozens of tributaries with hydroelectric dams. Many of these smaller hydroelectric dams are in disrepair and generate only small amounts of electricity. All these dams present challenges to restoring the health of the river and its tributaries.
What’s the plan?
Federal, state, local and regional governments have developed plans to guide the river’s restoration. Among the ones that American Rivers relies upon is the Merrimack River Watershed Comprehensive Plan for Diadromous Fishes. This plan is a product of a collaboration of state and federal agencies working together for decades to set restoration goals, evaluate progress, and make management decisions in coordination with the public.
This plan and others guide the work of American Rivers and local partners in identifying projects that have the highest impact for migratory fish and our communities.
What’s new?
American Rivers is partnering with the Towns of Milford and Jaffrey, NH and the Souhegan River Local River Advisory Committee and the Souhegan Watershed Association to advance the removal of dams on two tributaries of the Merrimack River.
Partners working in the watershed
Nashua River Watershed Association – The Work of 1000 documentary
Merrimack River Watershed Council
OARS 3 Rivers
Souhegan River Local Advisory Committee
Souhegan Watershed Association
Upper Merrimack River Watershed Association
Upper Merrimack River Local Advisory Committee
Lower Merrimack River Local Advisory Committee
Contoocook River Local Advisory Committee