Astrovelo

This is a river conservation story that I witnessed happening over the years. One of my favorite bike routes in Lyme, CT goes by this picturesque spot called Ed Bills Pond. It was created by a dam built on Eight mile river back in 1940s for recreation. The pond was spectacular in the Fall but, was equally beautiful in Summer and Winter. This has been my favorite rest stop while riding for years.

Over the years it was getting filled with leaves and sediment. The owner of the land along with town of Lyme and The Nature Conservancy decided to remove the dam and restore the river to its original condition. The dam removal would provide access to the upstream habitat of the river for native migratory fish species and other animals. The dam removal work was started in the Fall of 2015. They also removed the sludge and graded the area for proper water flow. These photos were taken over a month when that work was ongoing.

Over the following years it became a nice free-flowing river with lot of vegetation growing along its banks.

Now in 2021, this area doesn’t look anything like Ed Bills pond from just about 5-6 years ago. Migratory fish like alewife, blueback herring, sea lamprey and American eel have returned along with native turtles, salamanders, birds, otters and beavers. It has been a great success story for conservation. There are hundreds of dams on rivers in Connecticut that once powered mills or created backwaters for recreation. Many of them are on the list for removal and river restoration.