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There's a broken down dam on the Farmington River, where anglers and paddlers like to have fun. But as WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, it won't be there long.
It's called the Spoonville Dam, about a dozen miles up the Farmington from where it meets the Connecticut River. Its original purpose was to create hydro power over a century ago. But then, in 1955, overpowering floods washed out about a quarter of the dam -- leaving huge fragments down river. And for the past half century, the entire river has funneled through a very narrow, very fast moving breach.
"It's a bottleneck in the river, and it's very dramatic."
That's Eileen Fielding, the executive director of the Farmington River Watershed Association.
"But it also means there's a little section here where the river is going very fast downhill over a fairly smooth bottom, and that makes it really difficult for fish to go upstream."
Fielding is standing on the banks -- looking at the dam, and its latest additions: some heavy construction machinery to take it apart, piece by piece. The main reason? The shad and other fish -- they just can't beat the current. They're exhausted by the time they swim from Long Island Sound, up the Connecticut River, and into the Farmington.
So the goal is to make it easier for the fish. But there will be another effect. Whitewater kayakers have long run the dam. Full disclosure -- I'm one of them. And while a lot of people like the big waves and the exciting drop with the fast-moving water and the huge broken fragments immediately downstream, it's kind of scary. And dangerous.
"If you are boating through this gap in the dam, and you don't turn over in the turbulence, you may find yourself going at high speed right for a very large, very rough-textured rock. And it has banged up a lot of boats and a lot of boaters over the years."
Like Jim Matyszyk. He's 58, he was getting ready to paddle a popular wave called the playhole when I came upon him. He's been paddling for about 20 years, and here's what happened to him once when he ran the dam.
"I got pinned there at very high levels. When came over the dam, the wave hit me in the face and knocked out my contact lenses. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know where I rolled up, I couldn't see where I was going, and I got pinned on a log between a big rock and the side of the gorge."
Matyszyk says it's a risk and return kind of calculation.
"It can happen, even to very experienced paddlers. So I'm mixed on it. I'm 50/50. I think it might be a good thing -- prevent people from getting hurt, but, also, it's fun to run the dam."
Just upstream of the dam is also an important competitive whitewater run. Fielding says it should be unaffected. And as for what will be exposed beneath the dam once its gone -- Fielding says that could be a fun new place for paddlers to play and for anglers to fish.
"It's still going to be a good spot right here if you're interested in fishing for shad, and of course, it's going to remain a spot where people fish for trout, as well."
As long as the weather holds, Fielding says the work could be done in early August.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
