Above Kayakers paddle against the current below the Ipswich Mills Dam. In addition to numerous ecological benefits, removal of the dam would remove barriers require portage between the fresh and salt water sections of the river.
The Town of Ipswich have announced that they are beginning work to fulfill the scope of the recently awarded Ipswich River Restoration Grant which focuses on the removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam. The grant, awarded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, is part of the Baker-Polito Administration’s Grants to 25 Statewide Ecological Restoration Projects and Partnerships. The grant will facilitate design advancement for the removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam, a head-of-tide dam on the Ipswich River. Its removal is critical in providing access to spawning habitat for a range of fish species.
“The removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam has been a long time coming and the river has never needed the benefits of removal more than now,” said IRWA Restoration Program Director Neil Shea. “A free flowing river would be a boon to both the ecosystem and the community–the salt and freshwater environments would be fully reconnected for the first time in over 380 years, allowing fish, wildlife, nutrients, boaters – everyone and everything – unimpeded passage.
Dam removal is an involved and laborious process. The grant is designated as part of the Priority Projects Program by the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) to help communities advance critical initiatives. The Program is one of the vehicles by which DER pursues restoration projects that present the greatest benefit to the Commonwealth ecologically, socially, and economically. The grant will enable the Town of Ipswich with its community partners to update the existing conceptual design based on up-to-date riverbed elevations and sediment analysis. The updated design will include permit-level engineering drawings, positioning the project to be ready to enter the permitting phase by late 2022.
The grant will advance the Ipswich Mills Dam Removal Project and add to a pre-feasibility study and sediment sampling that was completed back in 2014, and a full feasibility study that was completed in 2020. Next steps include additional data collection, wetlands delineation, sediment sampling, and permitting. As a head-of-tide dam located at the transition between fresh and salt water, the dam’s removal is a crucial step to restoring the Ipswich River watershed’s fisheries and increasing protection from flooding.
Ultimately, as property of the town, the decision to remove the Ipswich Mills Dam will be decided by the community. Town Manager Tony Marino says “Moving forward with this phase of the project will give us the information we need to fully know what removal of the Ipswich Mills Dam will look like, and what, if any, mitigation will be required for abutting properties.” Those interested in learning more about the Ipswich Mills Dam Removal Project can visit the IRWA site (ipswichriver.org/ipswich-mills-dam) for updates and email subscription. For more information reach out directly to Neil Shea at [email protected]