Kennebec River

Kennebec River in Augusta

The Kennebec River is a river in the U.S. state of Maine.

River

It has its origin in the Moosehead Lake. It flows along its entire route in a predominantly southerly direction. He initially flows through the reservoir Indian Pond, later takes on the Dead River from the right and leads to a further elongated reservoir, the Wyman Lake. He passed the places Bingham and Solon and takes east of North Anson the Carrabassett River on the right side. Further downstream the places Anson and Madison are located opposite the river. Later meets the Sandy River from the right of the Kennebec River. In Norridgewock he turns briefly to the northeast to rotate at Skowhegan south again. Further downstream, the small towns of Fairfield, Waterville and Winslow are located along the river. The Sebasticook River flows from the left in the river. About 30 km further south flows through the Kennebec River Augusta, capital of Maine. The Kennebec River flows further south to Gardiner over and finally reaches the Merrymeeting Bay, which forms the estuary of the river. The Androscoggin River empties into the southern shore of Merrymeeting Bay. After about 350 miles of the Kennebec River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The catchment area above the Merrymeeting Bay covers 15,200 km ². As a source of the river Kennebec River is considered the Moose River. This represents the most important tributary of the Moosehead Lake

Fauna

The river system of the Kennebec River was an important spawning area for various migratory fish such as herring species Alosa sapidissima and Alosa pseudoharengus, the wolf bars chart Morone saxatilis, the Atlantic salmon, Arctic Norway and the sturgeon species short nose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon. By demolition of several dams, the establishment of fish ladders and exposure of fish spawning these fish species to be reintroduced.

Hydropower plants

On the riverbank of the Kennebec River are several hydroelectric plants.

The hydropower plants in downstream direction:

The hydropower stations Harris and Wyman are below the Indian Pond or Lake Wyman.

History

Samuel de Champlain was the first European who discovered the Kennebec River during his expedition from 1605 to 1606. In 1900 he was up to the Farmingtonfällen, 120 km upstream, navigable. During the American Revolution, the Kennebec was the scene of a shipment of 1,100 American soldiers under Colonel Benedict Arnold direction Québec. Then it was used for the energy production. 1999, the Edwards Dam was removed, which had an impact on the whole water system.

Origin of the name

The name " Kennebec " ( / kínipek ʷ / ) is native to eastern dialect of the Abenaki language, meaning " large water area ", " big bay ".