This is a list of dams in Massachusetts that have been removed as physical impediments to free-flowing rivers or streams. __TOC__

Removals by watershed

Housatonic River The Tel-Electric Dam was removed from the West Branch Housatonic River in Pittsfield in 2020. The project required safely disposing of 8,000 tons (7,300 metric tons) of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl pollution from a General Electric plant. The project cost around $4 million and benefited an environmental justice community as defined by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

South River Proposed removals The North and South Rivers Watershed Association is working with town, state, and private stakeholders on the South River Restoration Project, which will remove three dams blocking fish migration on the South River.

Taunton River

The structurally deficient High Street Dam was the most downstream barrier on the Town River to fish migrating from Narragansett Bay via the Taunton River. Its removal in 2023 opened of river to fish passage as well as of spawning habitat in Lake Nippenicket.

Connecticut River

Westfield River

The 2014 removal of a dam from the Westfield River tributary Kinne Brook in Chester was a collaboration between Trout Unlimited, the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, the National Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a private landowner. It was part of a larger project to restore of stream, which also involved the replacement of two culverts.

Sam Mill River

Dudleyville Pond Dam on the Saw Mill River in Shutesbury underwent emergency removal in summer 2024 following an American Rivers study showing the dam was an imminent public safety risk. The Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration removed the dam at a cost of $118,000 within a month of the town's Conservation Commission issuing an emergency certification for its removal. The project was noted for its unusually rapid timeline.

Ware River The Wheelwright Pond Dam removal over the Ware River in Wheelwright (Hardwick) and New Braintree occurred in 2025 to 2026. The total project cost is estimated at $4 million, mostly with State and Federal dollars. It was a collaboration between the East Quabbin Land Trust and the dam's private owner, Raitto Engineering & Manufacturing Co. This project reconnected 130 miles of high-quality freshwater habitat in the Ware River Watershed, the most continuous stream miles in Massachusetts. The dam was built in the 1800s or early 1900s, and it's poor condition prompted Massachusetts to upgrade the status of the dam to a high-hazard level to public safety. It was the largest dam removal in Massachusetts. The dam removal project was made possible by East Quabbin Land Trust's purchase of the former Tanner–Hiller Airport, which is in the process of being converted into the Menameset Habitat and the Mass Central Rail Trail.

Completed removals Dam Height Year removed Location Watercourse Watershed Moody St. Feeder Dam May Brook Dam 2009 Windsor May Brook Robbins Dike Dam 2006 Plymouth Red Brook Buttermilk Bay New Way Dam 2008 Wareham Lower Flume Dam 2009 Wareham Upper Flume Dam 2009 Wareham Beaver Dam Brook Dam 2016 Plymouth Beaver Dam Brook Cape Cod Bay West Beaver Dam Brook - Lower Berm 2020 Plymouth West Beaver Dam Brook West Beaver Dam Brook - Upper Berm 2020 Plymouth Sandwich Game Farm Dam 2006 East Sandwich Mill Creek Curtis Pond Dam 2012 Middleton Boston Brook Charles River Lower Dam 2009 Rowley Ox Pasture Brook Traphole Brook Dam 2022 Norwood Traphole Brook Charles River Mill Dam (Pearl Street Mill Dam) 2017 Bellingham Charles River Upper Cook's Canyon Dam 2006 Barre Galloway Brook Chicopee River Falmouth Rod & Gun Club Dam 2021 Falmouth Childs River Childs River Coonamessett Lower Bog Dam 2017 Falmouth Coonamessett River Coonamessett River Coonamessett River Lower Dam 2018 Falmouth Middle Bog Dam 2020 Falmouth International Paper Co. Dam No. 2 2014 Greenfield and Gill Fall River Fall River Bartlett Rod Shop Co. Dam 2012 Pelham Amethyst Brook Fort River Timber Dam 2016 Pelham Hall Brook Dam 2009 Adams Hoxie Brook Hoosic River Briggsville Dam 2010 Clarksburg North Branch Hoosic River Thunder Brook Restoration Project 2012 Cheshire Thunder Brook Lower Hathaway Brook Dam 2010 Dalton Hathaway Brook Housatonic River Upper Hathaway Brook Dam 2010 Dalton Old Berkshire Mill Dam 2000 Dalton Housatonic River Gravesleigh Pond Dam 2013 Pittsfield Sackett Brook Tel-Electric Dam 2020 Pittsfield West Branch Housatonic River Lyman Pond Dam 2022 Southampton Manhan River Manhan River Mordecai Lincoln Road Pond Dam (Hunters Pond Dam) 2017 Scituate Bound Brook Massachusetts Bay Balmoral Dam 2017 Andover Shawsheen River Merrimack River Marland Place Dam (Stevens Street Dam) 2017 Andover Roberts Meadow Upper Reservoir Dam 2018 Northampton Roberts Meadow Brook Mill River Phillipston Reservoir Dam #1 2012 Phillipston Thousand Acre Brook Millers River Phillipston Reservoir Dam #2 2012 Phillipston Whites Mill Pond Dam 2023 Winchendon Tributary to North Branch Millers River Carding Mill Dam 2014 Harwich Cold River Nantucket Sound Gulf Brook Dam 2021 Pepperell Gulf Brook Nashua River Millie Turner Dam 2015 Pepperell Nissitissit River Sucker Brook Dam 2021 Pepperell Sucker Brook Bartlett Pond Dam 2014 Lancaster Wekepeke Brook Mill Pond Dam 2014 Hanover Third Herring Brook North River Tack Factory Dam 2016 Hanover Unnamed Low Head Dams 2022 Hanover Peterson Pond Dam 2020 Hanover and Norwell Eel River Headwaters Restoration (7 small dams) 2009 Plymouth Eel River Plymouth Bay Sawmill Pond Dam 2010 Plymouth Wapping Road Dam 2011 Kingston Jones River Elm Street Dam 2019 Kingston Billington Street Dam 2002 Plymouth Town Brook Off Billington Street Dam 2013 Plymouth Plymco Dam 2015 Plymouth Holmes Dam 2018 Plymouth Wellingsly Dam #1 2012 Plymouth Wellingsly Brook Wellingsly Dam #2 2012 Plymouth Wellingsly Dam #3 2012 Plymouth Hamant Brook Lower Pond Dam 2017 Old Sturbridge VillageSturbridge Hamant Brook Quinebaug River Hamant Brook Middle Pond Dam 2017 Sturbridge Hamant Brook Upper Pond Dam 2017 Sturbridge Dudleyville Pond Dam (Brown's Dam) 2024 Shutesbury Sawmill River Sawmill River Forge Pond Dam 2010 Freetown Assonet River Taunton River Bleachery Dam (Rattlesnake Brook Dam) 2016 Freetown West Street Dam 2022 Foxborough Cocasset River Barstowe's Pond Dam 2018 Taunton Cotley River Hopewell Mills Dam 2012 Taunton Mill River Whittenton Dam 2013 Taunton West Britannia Dam 2018 Taunton Carver Cotton Gin Pond Dam 2017 East Bridgewater Satucket River High Street Dam 2023 Bridgewater Town RiverWheelwright Pond Dam2026New BraintreeWare RiverWare River Kinne Brook Dam (Stroud Dam) 2014 Chester Kinne Brook Westfield River Winchell Dam 2016 Granville Westfield River Silk Mill Dam 2003 Becket Yokum Brook Ballou Dam 2006 Becket Horseshoe Pond Dam 2020 Wareham Weweantic River Weweantic River Lyman Pond Dam No. 2 2024 Waltham Chester Brook Quinapoxet Accretion Dam 2024 West Boylston Quinapoxet River Becker Pond Dam2025Mt. Washington

Planned and proposed removals Dam Expected year Location Watercourse WatershedTalbot Mills DamBillericaConcord RiverMerrimack RiverVeterans Memorial Park DamMarshfieldSouth RiverMassachusetts BayChandler Pond DamMarshfieldTemple Street DamDuxbury

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