FARMINGTON — Experiences with Sandy River flooding events and requests to complete a survey were shared Friday morning, June 13, at a forum held in the Bass Room at MaineHealth Franklin Hospital as part of an effort to develop plans to mitigate and hopefully lessen impacts from future floods.

Chris and Jody Palmer live on the Sandy River. In December 2023 their 100 year old barn had one and a half feet of water in it and things were lost. Chris said he was interested in getting feedback from the survey to know what is going on. There was a good deposit of sand, a neighbor with a large corn field had to have it removed by the truckload, he noted. His neighbor is in her mid-80s, has lived there a long time. He planned to help her complete a survey.

“I really love the long term strategy,” Jody said. While cleaning out the barn after the last storm she discovered grates had been designed in the floor. “Water past my knees was gone almost instantly,” she stated. Her grandparents owned the corn factory that had been near where McDonald’s is now. She doesn’t know how they dealt with the flooding as that area was lower.

The water department in Farmington has wells on either side of the Sandy River, Jim Andrews, an assessor for the department, said. The department supplies pubic safety in Temple and Farmington, he noted. In the intervale field an entire living maple tree with its roots intact was left after the December 2023 storm galvanizing the department’s interest, he stated. If that tree had damaged the well, which holds enough water for seven days, three-quarters of production capacity would have been lost and he wasn’t sure it could have been fixed in seven days.

The water department now has the dilemma of borrowing $750,000 to move the wells out of the floodplain or leave them there and raise the casements with the expectation of similar floods not occurring, Andrews said. “We need a basis for making decisions,” he added.

“I missed the 1987 storm,” Joe Hartigan, Farmington wastewater director said. In December equipment at the plant was lost, scouring happened, he noted. Radar that afternoon showed no more clouds, Hartigan thought the flood was at its peak.

Town Manager Erica LaCroix said her immediate concerns in December were public safety and transportation infrastructure. “It was a surprise, we weren’t looking for a major flood,” she noted. At 2 p.m. she had to think about getting staff home. She lives in Oakland, was cut off and couldn’t get back into town – a huge concern.

FEMA reimbursed the town for much of the damages, LaCroix stated, is concerned about FEMA’s future. Towns can’t afford to get back on track on their own, she noted. “A lot of this is very expensive,” she stressed. “Budgets are going up. Property owners can only absorb so much.”

Ben Tucker with Sen. Angus King’s office emphasized the importance of everyone informing state and federal representatives about what is happening. “Your voice has the most power,” he said.

Survey123

The forum was one of four being held in Franklin County to gather information and encourage anyone with concerns to complete Survey123 online to assist a steering committee find ways to lessen damage from future floods. The survey is available at https://arcg.1T1vv51. Those with more than one area of concern are asked to complete a separate survey for each.

“It’s important to emphasize that we need respondents to be as specific as possible when identifying locations,” Franklin County EMA Director Amanda Simoneau said later Friday. “While many of the submissions we’ve received so far are helpful, several lack the level of detail we require for effective analysis. Ensuring precise location data will significantly enhance the usefulness of the information collected.”

On Friday morning Sara Bickford, executive director Somerset County EMA, shared the story of a woman who lives in Wilton and works in Farmington who was terrified that she wouldn’t be able to get home during a 2023 flood in Farmington.

“Collecting data now ensures we focus our energy and resources on the areas that need attention most,” Bickford said. “Farmers, homeowners and town officials hold key knowledge about how and where flooding has occurred. By gathering your input we build a clearer picture that helps everyone – from municipalities to first responders.”

Data collected will help emergency managers plan for resource staging, farmers protect their land and crops, municipalities better manage roads and bridges, highlight specific areas of concern for upcoming watershed survey and planners apply for funding and develop mitigation plans, Bickford noted. She and other presenters stressed the need to spread the word, get as many people as possible to complete the online survey.

Sandy River flooding history

Harmful flooding events from the past in the Sandy River watershed will be looked at and “hopefully prevent or mitigate future impacts,” Marc Edwards, of Strong, an independent contractor facilitating the forum and overseeing the project, said. Flooding along the Sandy River is happening more frequently, is more severe than in the past, he said.

The forums are to “learn from folks in the community about their experiences and how we can better prepare and manage potential impacts in the future as flooding events will certainly occur,” Edwards said. “They are becoming more frequent and a little bit more severe than they have been in the past. We will be gathering as much information as we can to help inform future actions and policies that will help mitigate flooding and help protect property.”

Fenwick Fowler, Franklin County commissioner, asked how many people remembered the flood of 1987 or were impacted by the 2023 floods. “We want to capture your experiences,” he said. “The reason being is indubitably it will happen in the future. The more we learn from your perspective, the more we gather, the better we will be able to protect where flooding might occur in the future.”

Fowler said he learned Dr. Tom Easter and others from University of Maine at Farmington had been conducting extensive studies on the Sandy River for almost 70 years. He also learned Sen. Russell Black of Wilton was talking with farmers in New Sharon about the Sandy River flooding. “I was surprised by how many farmers, other people had a big interest in the Sandy River,” he said. “The more I talked, the more I learned.”

Fowler wondered if everyone in the county had heard about the different perspectives, issues related to the river. “The Sandy River runs 70 miles from Sandy River Plantation all the way down through Starks,” he said. “Every part of that river is different and it reacts to floods in different ways.”

River dynamics

When talking about flooding it is not just the water coming down a river, there’s bank erosion (which can be quite severe) and channel migration where the river completely moves out of its channel, Geomorphologist Dr. John Field said. He shared information on tools used to complete a geomorphic assessment for a particular river system.

Topographical maps show elevation of land areas near the river, Field said. Arial photographs can show how a river changes over time, he noted. Arial photos of Wilson Stream in Wilton show the bank retrieving and moving, he stated. “On the ground 30 feet is a lot,” he stressed.

Old maps and documents can tell what was done by and to the river then, Field said of historical archives going back to the 1800s.

Natural and artificial manipulations or restrictions can affect a river’s channel, Field noted. The elevated railroad once in Farmington blocked the entire floodplain, he said. “Route 2 is another artificial restriction,” he noted. “I cannot overestimate enough how much rivers in New England have been straightened. It was easier to move logs down stream.”

Ways to tell if a river has been straightened include if it is against a mountainside and if old meanders where it once was can be seen, Field said. The Sandy River has been straightened, doesn’t get to the ocean as fast, he noted. It runs into constriction at Farmington Falls so sand drops out even more, he stated.

Things like the placement of logs in Sandy River about 10 years ago to protect Whittier Road and permission to scalp sand off the bar in Farmington Falls could set up erosion problems upstream, need to be thought out, Field said. Those projects were small, robust enough not to cause issues, he stated.

The geomorphic assessment can be used to prioritize projects, identify restoration projects, Field said.

Members of the steering committee include The Nature Conservancy, Franklin County Commissioner Fenwick Fowler, Republican Sen. Russell Black of Wilton, and the county Emergency Management Agency.

Forums scheduled in northern Franklin County

• June 16, 7-9 a.m. Foster Memorial Building, 14 S. Main Street, Strong

• June 17, 7-9 a.m. Community Center, 21 Depot St, Phillips

Coffee and breakfast foods will be available.

To register for one of the forums, please contact Marc Edwards at 207-860-9242, or [email protected]