Marland Dam & Mills

Early morning sun warms the former Marland Mills, now Marland Place, an assisted living home in Andover. The Marland Dam is being considered for removal to help coax the indigenous fish back to this once pristine river.Although the river is stocked with trout, they do not survive due to low oxygen levels and high temperatures. Fish stocked in the Merrimack apparently are not interested in swimming through the 100 yrd. tunnel which connects the Shawsheen to the Merrimack in Lawrence. A general concensus in the SRWA is repair the dam, adding fish ladders and portage for canoeists. Removal of the dam will result in more damage downstream during flooding, and leave nothing but a muddy trickle between Ballardvale and the step dam at Balmoral during drought.