Department supports communities seeking to broaden Saco River Commerce

May 19, 2016

For more information contact: Matt Nixon at: 207-287-1491

The Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative will use sonar technology to help locate submerged power cables

AUGUSTA - The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry?s (DACF) Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative (MCMI) is teaming up with the cities of Biddeford and Saco to find several abandoned submerged power cables and other marine debris that threatens to impede plans to dredge the upper portion of the Saco River.

Beginning next week, the MCMI survey vessel Amy Gale will use state-of-the art sonar technology in an attempt find the cables which got tangled with dredging equipment when the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) last dredged this section of the Saco River in the 1990?s. The ACOE has advised the cities that they must clear the area to be dredged of the cable and any other in-river obstructions before the ACOE will dredge there again.

?The Saco River is economically important to Biddeford, Saco and the region,? said Commissioner Walt Whitcomb. ?According to a joint letter submitted by those communities to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Saco River contributes more than $53 Million annually in economic impact to Saco and Biddeford and is home to more than 40 commercial fishing vessels. The State of Maine is providing sonar capabilities in support of their effort to maintain the navigability of the river and help boost their coastal economies.?

In-River Survey Work to begin Next Week:

The MCMI survey vessel, Amy Gale, is tentatively scheduled to be in the Saco River the week of May 23rd and will be docked at Rumery?s Boat Yard and will be available for tours by appointment. The in-river survey work is expected to take about three days.

The MCMI deploys a Kongsberg EM2040C Multibeam Echosounder, drop camera, and grab sampler in addition to a wide array of water quality parameter equipment. The survey platform is a 35-foot lobster vessel outfitted for extended survey work.

MCMI:

Formed in 2012, the MCMI is a collaboration of state, federal, academic and non-profit agencies and organizations that provides seafloor imagery, modeling, and oceanographic data collection capacity to support ocean resources management and scientific investigations in Maine.

Part of the DACF, the MCMI is led by the Maine Coastal Program. The DACF?s Submerged Lands Program (SLP) is providing funding for this project. The SLP administers a leasing program which provides limited use leases and easements that allow piers and other structures to be built on, and over, state-owned, public submerged lands. SLP lease fees are used to support municipal harbor management activities and public access improvements in Maine?s coastal waters and Great Ponds.

More information on the MCMI is available at: http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mcp/planning/mcmi/index.htm