Kelley’s Falls and the Gregg’s Falls Dam upstream in Goffstown are both state-owned and still producing electricity.

“This kills two birds with one stone,” said Michael Allard, president of the Namaske Lake Association.

“It’s probably a good solution because it’s a way to protect the lease at Gregg’s Falls (Dam), so Gregg’s Falls keeps producing hydropower,” Allard said.

The state Department of Environmental Services has applied for a $20 million grant, which includes another $6.5 million to remove the Hadley Falls Dam in the heart of Goffstown and to restore the river channel in the impoundment area created by the dam.

In a separate move, legislators are pushing a measure to require that state environmental officials offer to transfer ownership of any state-owned dam and associated property to the local municipality at least one year before removing the dam. A loan fund also would be established to assist cities and towns.

The state owns 273 dams.

The fishway at Kelley’s Falls would create a detour for an estimated 65,000 fish, mainly blueback herring, to migrate upstream in the Piscataquog River annually, according to Corey Clark, chief engineer of the state’s dam bureau.

A loading dock would be built into the fish ladder, and trucks could load the fish and drive them to Glen Lake behind Gregg’s Falls Dam, according to Clark. The number of trips would depend on the time of year and the number of fish running.

Hadley Falls issue

Taking steps to preserve Glen Lake and Namaske Lake would “protect those waterfronts for Goffstown residents,” said Goffstown Town Administrator Derek Horne.

A 6 1/2-mile stretch of the Piscataquog flows over three dams, starting with the Hadley Falls Dam in Goffstown village, followed by the Gregg’s Falls Dam on the east side of Glen Lake and then farther east to the Kelley’s Falls Dam in Manchester.

Last spring, Goffstown residents living near the Hadley Falls Dam said they didn’t want the dam dismantled, fearing it would change the river’s depth and shape.

The Goffstown selectboard would like the “state to keep the dam as is or to work with the state on what the river restoration would look like,” Horne said. “We don’t want a design that negatively impacts the village area.”

A federal push for that dam to resume generating power or surrender its license to generate electricity endangered the dam’s future. The state didn’t want to spend an estimated $5 million to $10 million to replace it.

Last March, Vermont-based Green Mountain Power sent a letter to federal regulators saying it was filing an application to surrender its license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to generate power at Kelley’s Falls Dam at the end of the license’s term in March 2024.

Multiple federal entities are pushing for establishing a fish passage as a requirement for hydro dams to keep producing electricity.

Clark said that the Kelley’s Falls Dam requires staff and resources to operate and maintain. The state plans to work with another entity to operate the dam “either with or without hydropower production.”

“The intent of the trap and truck transport from the proposed” Kelley’s Falls fish ladder “is to satisfy any requirements to install upstream fish passage at” Gregg’s Falls Dam, Clark said.

Impact on residents

About 180 homeowners live around the 100-acre Namaske Lake, which was created by the Kelley’s Falls Dam.

The Lake Association’s Allard said he was concerned that the state wouldn’t replace flashboards atop the dam that are knocked loose during heavy rains.

“We’ll be living for an extended period of time with low water,” he said. “Most of the boats with outboard motors won’t be able to navigate the lake for an extended period of time until the storm boards are repaired.”

Clark said his department “will be vigilant and is working on getting pricing for a possible contract with an outside vendor to perform the work to replace the flashboards when necessary.”

The spillway, he said, needs to be dry when those boards are replaced.

“Lowering the water level to dry out the spillway is now accomplished by passing water through the hydropower turbine and through a small bypass gate,” Clark said.

“If hydropower is not produced at the site, then the only means of lowering the water level below the spillway will be the small bypass gate,” he said. “Because the small bypass gate can only pass a small volume of water, the flow coming into Namaske Lake will need to be relatively low in order to dry out the spillway. This may affect the timing in which the spillway can be dried out so that personnel can safely replace the flashboards.”

The grant request includes $224,424 to develop an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Services to allow New Hampshire Fish and Game to hire a consultant to perform site investigation and feasibility studies for fish passage at five other dams on tributaries leading into the Merrimack River.

A bill to help towns

On the legislative front, House Bill 1429 passed its initial committee test.

Several state reps, led by Rep. Lisa Mazur of Goffstown, are pushing the measure.

“Your Goffstown Republican representatives heard their community’s concerns after being blindsided with removal of the dam at Hadley Falls,” the group said in a news release.

Horne said the town didn’t have much notice.

“We were really given a month’s notice before the state surrendered their hydroelectric license to FERC,” he said.

Clark acknowledged the short timeframe with that dam.

Clark said 11 state-owned dams fall under the FERC control, leaving the state with less flexibility.

Generally, giving notice to a “town to take over a dam a year ahead of time is not a problem for us,” Clark said.

mcousineau@unionleader.com