Auburn readies FERC mitigation comments and supports raising river water-quality classification

City staff briefed the Auburn City Council on June 16 about the city’s next steps in two connected river matters: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) relicensing review for Lewiston Falls hydropower and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s triennial review of water-quality classifications.

“Last time we were here a few months ago we made the decision to file a document with FERC that would maintain our ability to appeal any eventual decision,” said Mr. Cousins, the staff member who provided both updates. He said FERC has finished the study-phase determinations and is ready to begin imposing mitigation requirements in the license process. “At this point we really switch our comments away from asking for any potential studies and really pointing to exact mitigation requirements that the city is advocating for to mitigate the impacts of them using the river to generate power,” Cousins said.

What the city will seek: Cousins said Auburn will ask FERC to include specific mitigation elements in the license related to recreational access, recreational flows, aesthetic flows and improvements to existing parks or access points along the river. He said the city plans to file its comment letter in July and noted the likely administrative schedule: city comments in July, the applicant (Brookfield) responding by mid-to-late September, and an expected FERC decision sometime in 2026.

“We’ll be providing comments specifically on the mitigation elements related to recreational access, recreational flows, aesthetic flows, and improvements to existing parks or access points along the river,” Cousins said.

Water-quality classification: Cousins also reviewed the Maine DEP triennial review. He said staff intend to submit a brief letter supporting a proposal to change the Androscoggin River’s classification from Class C to Class B on a stretch that runs from Lewiston Falls downstream to the Worumbo Dam. He said that, based on continuous monitoring collected during relicensing studies, the river “meets class B here… almost all the time” though there are short, diurnal dips in dissolved oxygen during late-summer warm spells.

Cousins described an August event captured in continuous data when dissolved oxygen briefly fell below the applicable threshold after a brief storm on hot pavement; the dip lasted less than an hour. He explained these were short-duration, warm-weather phenomena rather than chronic pollution, and said the classification upgrade would help lock in current standards so future discharge licenses do not allow a regression in water quality.

Councilor Weiding supported the idea and cited stormwater and sewer separation work as reasons Auburn’s river conditions have improved. Cousins said the regional wastewater authority (formerly called Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control) can meet either standard and that the city would proceed with a short letter of support unless council directs otherwise.

Timeline and next steps: Cousins said the city will file its FERC mitigation comments in July and the DEP water-quality comment in July as part of the triennial review process. He noted that Brookfield has until mid-late September to respond to stakeholder comments and that the council can later decide whether to pursue legal appeal after FERC issues a decision expected in 2026.

Ending: Council asked no change to the staff plan; staff will file comments in July and return with developments as FERC and DEP schedules proceed.