ABSTRACT
The Edwards Dam was a small, privately owned hydroelectric dam on the Kennebec River in southern Maine that supplied but a small portion of the state's electricity. On November 22, 1997, a federal agency empowered by local and national environmental groups made the decision to remove the dam but demand that they pay the expense of the removal, as well. For centuries, humans have been harnessing rivers and other waterways to gain economic benefits from the enhanced availability of water and the production of power. Since rivers, aquifers and water in general have been largely socialized in the United States, they suffer from chronic overuse, poor utilization of their resources and a myriad of controls and mismanaged rationing. In 1837 the Kennebec River Dam Company built a dam between Augusta and Waterville in southern Maine. Construction of the dam prevented the migration of anadromous fishes such as Atlantic salmon to spawning sites up-river.
