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Improved fish ladder proposed for Willowdale Dam

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1. Massachusetts Environmental Trust Grants (FY2016) includes partner project in Boxford
2. Stream Continuity and Infrastructure Assessment Project Update
3. Great Marsh Awarded Federal Wetlands Grant
4. Marsh Adaptation Strategy Tool (MAST)
5. King Tides and Sea Level Rise
6. MyCoast Tracks Coastal Storms
7. PIE Rivers Annual Meeting Promotes the Power of Partnerships
8. New Flooding and Sea Level Rise Maps Aid Resiliency Planning Efforts
9. Essex Tech Students Study Plum Island Beach Movement
10. COAST Analysis of Newburyport
11. Planning Partners Report Progress
12. Ipswich River Re-opens to Shellfishing
13. Partners remove over 600 tires during “Turtle Land” cleanup
14. Greenbelt One Step Closer to Protecting Leonhard-Eldred Farm
15. Native Plantings and Sand Fencing Help Beach Dune Restoration
16. Improved fish ladder proposed for Willowdale Dam
17. Dune Resiliency Efforts on Salisbury Beaches
18. EPA Releases Stormwater Permit
19. Greenbelt Steps Closer to Conserving Sagamore Hill
20. Ipswich High Students Explore Sea Level Rise
21. PIE-Rivers Partners Gather for Great Marsh Resiliency Modeling Workshop
22. Communities Plan for Living Shorelines
23. Local Students Give Presentations on Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Impacts
24. Partner efforts help river herring upstream
25. Communities Take Action on Resiliency
26. Survey Work Begins at Ipswich Mills Dam
27. Town of Ipswich Receives Coastal Resiliency Grant
28. Ipswich Dam Team Visits Exeter Restoration Project
29. Nanotags: Understanding large landscape connections using nano-technology
30. Coastal Resiliency Planning Project Works on Solutions
31. PIE-Rivers Partnership Annual Meeting 2016
32. Great Marsh Sea Level Rise Symposium: Implications for Quality of Life in Our Communities
33. Greenbelt Hosts Inaugural Essex County Open Space Conference
34. Salt Marsh Science Project Celebrated 20th Anniversary
35. 2016 PIE-Rivers Annual Meeting
36. EPA Releases Dam Removal FAQ
37. Choate Island Forest Clearing Project
38. Partners Protect Castle Neck Headwaters
39. Wenham and Boxford receive DER assistance to upgrade degraded culverts
40. PIE-Rivers Partnership Annual Meeting 2017
41. PIE-Rivers Partners Celebrate 2017 Accomplishments
42. The Great Marsh Coastal Adaptation Plan Is Now Online

The existing 1930’s era fish ladder at the Willowdale Dam on the Ipswich River is not very good at its job of allowing fish to swim over and past the dam to important habitat upstream. With the vast majority of the Ipswich River watershed located upstream of this site, improving fish passage at Willowdale is a critical component of watershed-wide efforts to restore healthy populations of native fish species.

Back in 2006 the MA Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) commissioned a feasibility study that explored various options for improving fish passage at the dam for a wide range of species. No action was taken following the 2006 report because of the dam owner’s interest in keeping the dam in place and the relatively high cost of installing the upgraded fish ladder options.

Efforts to improve fish passage at the Willowdale Dam on the Ipswich River are now being rekindled. Representatives from MA Division of Marine Fisheries, Foote Brothers Canoe and Kayak, Essex County Greenbelt, Ipswich River Watershed and the Towns of Hamilton and Ipswich met to discuss the proposed new Willowdale fish ladder on Tuesday, January 26th, 2016. The Division of Marine Fisheries has entered an agreement with Foote Brothers (the dam owner) to install a less expensive, modular fish ladder on the north side of the dam to replace the existing ladder on the south side. The proposed Alaskan steeppass ladder would be installed in 2017 and greatly improve access for some species including river herring.

We are optimistic about the potential near-term positive impact that this new ladder could have on restoration efforts, but do expect that future fish passage improvements will eventually be needed. Thanks to DMF and Foote Brothers for their work to improve passage at this site. We look forward to counting many more fish swimming up and over this dam in the coming years.

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