On a gray, rainy day earlier this month, a small group from NSRWA, the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) and the Town of Duxbury gathered to watch the Temple Street Dam come down. After 14 years of planning, it took less than 15 minutes to dismantle the concrete structure. But that didn’t make the moment any less thrilling or the accomplishment any less meaningful.
Also known as Boys and Girls Club Dam #2, the dam and the impoundment (the “pond” behind the dam) were acquired by the Town of Duxbury in the 1990’s as part of the Camp WIng Conservation Area. What began as a vision for reconnecting the river in 2012 became a reality in 2016 when DER designated the South River Restoration as a Priority Project. From there, stakeholders were engaged and multiple designs were developed to remove the river’s uppermost barrier without impacting flooding or infrastructure downstream.
Removal of the Temple Street Dam has reconnected over 4 miles of stream and restored access to 6.5 acres of open water wetland. This is even more significant with the return of river herring to the upper reaches of the South River after the removal of the Veterans Memorial Park Dam in 2025. “Together we are reconnecting important habitat for fish and wildlife, restoring natural river and wetland systems, eliminating a long-term maintenance burden for the town, and making the South River more resilient to climate change,” said DER Director Beth Lambert. “Projects like Temple Street are part of a much larger effort across Massachusetts to remove aging, unnecessary dams and give our rivers and communities a healthier, safer future.”
Thank you again to our partners in this project – DER, Town of Duxbury and MassBays – and to all of you for your continued support of our river restoration work.
