CONCORD -The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) announced that the Governor and Executive Council recently approved $475,000 for the Fiske Dam Removal project in the town of Hinsdale. This Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) Fund grant was awarded to the Nature Conservancy.

The Fiske Dam Removal project will restore riparian and wetland functions on a portion of the Ashuelot River. The concrete dam removal will also restore aquatic organism passage and reconnect 7.44 miles of upstream river and streams in the Ashuelot River System to the Connecticut River and Atlantic Ocean. Benefits also include restoration of approximately 154 river and stream miles for anadromous fish, mitigation of flood risks for Hinsdale and surrounding community areas, creation of a permanent Ashuelot River access point and providing conservation areas with improved water quality for ecosystem health.

The ARM Fund Program manages money to offset unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources. Competitive grants fund projects that restore, enhance and preserve aquatic resources and associated upland buffers across nine watersheds, also called service areas. Since 2006, more than $26 million in compensatory funds have supported more than 141 projects. Examples include irreplaceable-resource preservation, aquatic barrier removal (culvert replacement and dam removal) and living shoreline projects. The program aims to support restoration, enhancement and preservation to ensure “no net loss” of aquatic resources.

For more information, visit the ARM Fund Program website or email des.arm@des.nh.gov.