1.0 Introduction

This report presents preliminary assessment and evaluation for removal of Elm Street Dam, which is located on the Jones River in the Town of Kingston, Plymouth County, Massachusetts (Town) and owned by the Town. Dams at this site date back to the seventeenth century and were originally constructed to provide mechanical power for adjacent mill buildings. The present dam was reconstructed in 1920 and  fitted with a small hydroelectric generating system to provide power for the Town of Kingston Water Department.

Elm Street Dam is located at the head-of-tide on the  Jones River  immediately downstream from the Elm Street Bridge, which was reconstructed in 2013. A technical fishway was reported to have been constructed in 1938 and replaced with an Alaska Steeppass technical fishway in 2001.

The Jones River supports diverse populations of native resident and diadromous fish species, including anadromous American shad (Alosa sapidissima), river herring  (alewife [Alosa pseudoharengus] and blueback herring [Alosa aestivalis] ), sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), and catadromous American eel (Anguilla rostrata). In addition, the river may support semi-anadromous (sea-run) brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).

While the existing technical fishpass at Elm Street Dam provides for upstream passage of some of the noted diadromous fish, it is not suitable for upstream passage of all species of fish that may use the Jones River, such as rainbow smelt, and will not provide for upstream fish passage if it is not continously maintained and operated.

Stantec Consulting Services Inc. (Stantec) prepared this report under contract to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) consistent with performance criteria and specifications included in Ecological Restoration Technical Service Master Agreement (RFQ ID # DER 2010-3) between DER and Stantec. Information presented in this report is based on observations by Michael Chelminski of Stantec during a  site visit to the dam and adjacent areas on Wednesday, October 22, 2014; review of existing materials that were provided to Stantec by DER; and Stantec’s experience with preliminary evaluations for dam removal.

Read more here — Feb 2015: Elm St Dam Site Recon Report (PDF)