Dams review good news for Goffstown

GOFFSTOWN – News that Gov. John Lynch has asked state officials to look into how dams along rivers are managed in flood emergencies was welcomed yesterday by local leaders who said they hoped the review ends in action.

"It's a good thing," said John Caprio, selectmen chair. "It's something that's a long time in coming."

The Department of Environmental Services and state emergency officials will be examining existing guidelines on when dams should release water, how they coordinate their activities with each other, and how well the system worked during the severe flooding last month, according to a press release.

Two dams along the Piscataquog River in Goffstown are owned by the state but operated by two independent power companies in keeping with a 50-year lease agreement. Goffstown officials want copies of those contracts and plan a public meeting with representatives of the companies soon, Caprio said.

Caprio and selectman Scott Gross said they hoped the state review leads to reform, so there is more coordination among the dam operators.

Those power companies are licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which requires them to plan for flood emergencies, but Gross said the state itself should exercise more oversight.

Residents of the Lynchville and Danis parks area yesterday seemed not surprised by the news. "We knew the dams screwed up," said Brian Lesmerises of Sonny Avenue. "Everybody knows they did."

Lesmerises said the state should pull out of its agreements with the Algonquin Power Income Fund and Consolidated Hydro New Hampshire, Inc., the companies that run the Greggs Falls and Kelley Falls dams, respectively. The dams, he said, should be turned over to Public Service of New Hampshire.

Selectman Vivian Blondeau said people in town want the state to move faster.

"The governor said he is going to look into the dams," Blondeau said. "I'm kind of concerned that is not going to be the reaction the citizens of Lynchville and Danis parks are looking for."

Lesmerises is not confident anything will change, saying similar promises were made last year. This time, the state has to be more proactive in fixing the situation, Blondeau said. "I don't think we're going to sit down and say, 'This is a 100-year flood. It's not going to happen again.'"

Mark Payne, a neighbor of Lesmerises, was among those who spoke with Lynch when he toured disaster-struck areas in April. At the time, Payne pleaded with Lynch to do something about the dams.

Yesterday, he said he thought the plan to review the dams was a good idea, but he has not changed his mind about moving out of his twice-flooded home.

"I've got enough to deal with," he said.