IS IT A FLUME, A DAM OR A SLUICE?

Those who ventured down Winterbrook this summer found a man-made barrier that blocked the way:  neither the Town of Poland nor the DEP knew anything about the structure.  I spoke with Tom Brennan, the Natural Resources Director for Poland Spring Water, who informed me that the flume was a temporary structure, erected so they could study the effects of rising and falling water levels on the action of the aquifers.  He further stated that because the structure was temporary and didn’t block the flow of water, no permit was necessary.  Susan Redmond from the DEP in Augusta visited the site and concurred.

The man-made structure has since been dismantled.  Further upstream the beavers have been as busy as…beavers.  The industrious critters have done an amazing job of building two rather formidable dams in the past month.