The Valley Street Dam was removed during the fall of 2025 by the Connecticut River Conservancy and the Mount Ascuney Regional Commission, in partnership with the Town of Springfield. The dam was originally constructed for recreation in 1938. The impoundment was a popular swimming area up until 1953, when it closed due to contamination and unhygienic conditions. Since then, the dam has not been maintained and the infrastructure and water quality have continued to degrade. After 87 years, the once 14-foot-high and 33-foot-wide concrete dam is gone and the Mile Brook is now flowing freely. 

The project took around 8 years of fundraising, design, and permitting. After all of those years of hard work and planning, the dam deconstruction began on September 3rd, 2025 and ended in October. The project removed the dam structure and excess sediment, while restoring the stream channel and floodplain. The removal of the dam will result in improved flood resiliency for the watershed and has also significantly improved trout habitat, now that aquatic organism passage, sediment transport, and flow has been restored to this section of stream. The project reconnected approximately 1 mile of upstream river access within the watershed. 

We thank the State of Vermont, Watersheds United Vermont and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for helping fund this project. Additionally, we thank Ripple Natural Resources LLC of Randolph VT and Paula Sagerman (historic preservation consultant), and Crown Point Excavation for their contributions that made this project possible.

Photo Courtesy of the Connecticut River Conservancy