Today, the Lewiston Sun Journal is reporting that people in the Twin Cities are noticing the color of the water in the Androscoggin River that passes through those cities. The DEP says it’s because of the recent floods and washouts in the Bethel area last week.

The culprit, a DEP scientist said, is last week’s heavy rain storms that washed out Bethel-area streams.

“The streams that washed out left a huge amount of sediment in the water,” said Bureau of Land and Water Quality Director Andrew Fisk. The sediment flowed to the Androscoggin.

By Monday and Tuesday, DEP staffers could see a large, visible “plume of sediment moving down the river” that had made its way to Lewiston-Auburn. The moving mud could be seen in aerial photos, Fisk said. The event is unusual, he added.

I can attest to the validity of the Bethel wash outs causing the brown water. Tons of silt, sand and debris were disturbed as a result of the heavy rains. On Tuesday, I saw the Wild River, which comes through Evans Notch and empties into the Androscoggin in Gilead. The Evans Notch Road is still closed while they work to replace a bridge lost in the flooding. The water on Tuesday flowing under the U.S. Route 2 bridge was almost glacial in color. Typically the water in the Wild River is crystal clear but this was a milky, almost greenish brown, color.

I attempted to walk into the Chapman Brook watershed last Friday but I was cut off before I could get in there. The Chapman Brook is where Bethel’s water supply reservoir is located. The reservoir was completely destroyed. I did see some of the destruction below the reservoir and can attest that an incredible amount of debris made its way to the Androscoggin.

The below photo shows some of the damage caused by rocks and debris being forced down the brook as a result of heavy rains.

Tom Remington Photo

Further down the brook at the Northwest Bethel Road, sits the newly-built Angevine Park. The land was donated by longtime Bethel natives Ernest and Alberta Angevine, for the purpose of providing a swimming place for Bethel resident. The Park sits adjacent to Chapman Brook.

There was so much runoff from the flooding it pretty much destroyed the pool, filling it in with debris.

Tom Remington Photo

The pool area will need to be dug out again and allowed to fill.

The parking area, which sits on the opposite side of Chapman Brook, also saw a substantial amount of damage. If you look in the below photo, you can get an idea of the amount of sand and gravel that got deposited. Angevine Park is located only a few hundred yards from the Androscoggin River.

Tom Remington Photo

Further downstream on the Androscoggin, the Sunday River empties into the Androscoggin. Feeder brooks and streams that are part of the Sunday River watershed saw massive amounts of erosion. A brook that winds its way through parts of Sunday River Ski Resort, destroyed access roads, culverts and undermined one chairlift at White Cap Lodge.

Many of these brooks have cleared up since last weeks flooding but some are still experiencing some silting. As water clears upstream, the Lewiston/Auburn area will begin to see better water.

Tom Remington