We recently signed onto comments developed by our partners at the Connecticut River Conservancy to highlight critical issues that Great River Hydro LLC has failed to address during the process to relicense their Wilder Electric Project – a large dam on the Connecticut River.

In the comments, we call on Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources to better enforce a range of issues, including: shoreline erosion; protection of rare, threatened and endangered species; protection of water quality, habitat and species in the face of flooding; equitable access to the river for recreation; aquatic invasive species management; timely installation of fish passage upgrades; and financial assurances for decommissioning.

The current draft of their relicensing proposal does not ensure that the operation of Great River Hydro’s projects will comply with Vermont’s Water Quality Standards. Submitting comments in the “401 Water Quality Certification” process is the first chance we’ve had since 1979 to address the dam’s impacts on water quality – and it will be the only opportunity to make improvements for the next 40 years, due to the length of FERC licenses. We’ll continue to share updates on this process as they arise.

You can find the detailed comments on this proposal and more information about other projects currently seeking relicensing on the Connecticut River here: https://www.ctriver.org/hydropower.