The water level drops on a coastal Maine pond residents question fish hatchery

Residents around Craig Pond in East Orland, Maine, say unusually low water levels are threatening both the environment and property values, while raising questions about how a federal fish hatchery manages dam-controlled supplies. The 218-acre pond is the sole water source for a hatchery that produces eggs of more than 5 million endangered Atlantic salmon each year. Neighbors report dying vegetation, early removal of docks, and brown material washing ashore during a drought year that they say is more severe than elsewhere in the watershed. Concerns center on a 1953 law that overrides state limits on the hatchery’s water use. Environmental regulators previously sanctioned operations over high phosphorus levels at Alamoosook Lake, pushing the hatchery toward Craig Pond.