Randolph — The White River Partnership has received grants totaling about $160,000 to remove a dam on the Third Branch of the White River this summer, restore habitat and monitor the removal’s long-term effects on fish passage.

The funding is from the Davis Conservation Foundation, the National Fish Passage Program, the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund, and a Vermont Watershed Grant. It also includes a $10,000 Trout Unlimited Embrace-A-Stream grant received by that organization’s Greater Upper Valley chapter. The chapter will also contribute proceeds from its 2015 and 2016 fly fishing tournaments toward the work, the partnership said in a news release.

The Randolph dam is downstream of the Main Street Bridge in Randolph village, at the approximate site of the original Sargent, Osgood & Roundy foundry dam.
No longer in use, the dam is a complete barrier for spawning trout, the partnership said. Removing it will open 98 miles of cold-water habitat to fish passage, open the Third Branch main stem to paddling and improve flood resilience for Prince Street businesses near the river.

Last fall, the Randolph Selectboard voted unanimously to support the project. Ripple Natural Resources, a Randolph engineering firm, is designing the removal.

Volunteers from the White River Partnership, the Trout Unlimited chapter and others will restore in-stream and riverside habitat and help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitor fish passage before and after the removal.

— Staff report