Dam Woes; water and stone, beavers and politicians

Forgive my mildly punny title. But yes, it seems that Douglas these days is having issues with its dams. You will have read my previous blogs on the problems with beaver dams being built throughout Douglas' waterways. Alas, a problem of a more two legged nature has been ongoing as well concerning the Manchaug Pond dam.
I was initially informed of this issue the first time I attended a Town of Douglas Open Space Committee meeting (of which I have just been voted in as a member!) in which I was informed that MRC (Manchaug Reservior Corporation) and it's parent company Interface Fabrics Group of Atlanta, plan to breach the dam. Meaning, destroy it, remove it. There is nothing wrong with this dam, the company just doesn't want it anymore. According to the Interface Fabrics Group it has "ceased manufacturing operations in Massachusetts in 2003, it announced its intention to divest itself of all of its assets and its subsidiaries' assets in the commonwealth, including the dam" (Vecchione, Ruth. Worcester Telegram and Gazette, June 18 2009). Their representative, Porter states "..."The dam no longer serves the purpose with the intent for why it was built. We believe doing this would ultimately result in a net benefit impact" (Farnsworth, Josh. Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, July 10 2009).
However, those of us even mildly interested in the good of the community, both in Douglas and Sutton, think that MRC is just doing this to relieve themselves of the responsibilities relating to the dam. Very little good could come of breaching the dam, in fact, it would be a disaster. According various officials quoted in articles in both the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Worcester Telegram and Gazette, as well as my own observations, removal of the dam would have a variety of detrimental effects. Property values of those living on the pond, especially those in cute waterfront properties and the two campgrounds situated there, would decline and these areas may even cease to have waterfront property. Floodwaters from the area would, well, cause flooding downstream from the dam. Bodies of water upstream from the pond would shrink, including the Whitin Reservoir (this may mean something to those of you will cabins in the area).
This dam was originally constructed to keep the water level high to provided flow to the mills downstream, it is true that those mills no longer operate as such. However, the loss of the dam and subsequent loss of water flow would mean the water level would be too low for the Douglas Water and Sewer Plant to keep it's permit, the town would have to truck the sewage out. The Milford Power Plant would suffer and the new "green" Alternatives Building would not have enough flow to power it's proposed hydroelectric plant. In fact, any one of the old mills along this waterway (of which there were once 11) could have it's own hydroelectric power, unless this dam is breached.
As for environmental impacts, it is true, draining the pond would leave us with more wetlands. However, the wetlands we have would change. This means the potential loss of 4 vernal pools, a rare habitat which cannot be re-created. The distruption of wetlands which have already adapted to the placement of this pond 130 years ago would be disasterous in the fragile current state of the environment.
For more information, or to get involved, I strongly recommend manchaugpondassociation.blogspot.com . This blog was the source for most of the information I just wrote about, and provides more coverage of the issue. This organization is strongly opposed to the breaching of the dam and continues posting as the issue develops. Also, it has nice pictures.
Alas, Douglas and it's dams. We have issues when they go up, and issues when they come down. Thank goodness many of our dams have stayed the same. Below is a picture of an old sawmill dam in the woods. No beavers, and no politicians. Just water and stone, you have to love it.