Royal River Alliance
Promoting a healthy watershed from the river’s source to the sea.
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Help Free the Royal River
October 30, work day 69. Final work to optimize fish passage. Fish were seen congregating below the ledge earlier today. A good sign! Bridge St dam removal is fully funded. Please visit our donation page to help raise funds to complete the restoration of the Royal River by removing the E. Elm St. Dam.
Restoring the Royal River
Hundreds of aging dams that were once essential to communities across Maine are no longer serving their intended purposes. Worse, they continue to damage the habitats and ecosystems associated with the rivers they obstruct.
Yarmouth’s two dams on the Royal River are an unfortunate example of how these relics impede the restoration of precious riverine habitat. From Sabbathday Lake to Casco Bay, the Yarmouth dams impact fish, birds, and animals that depend on the river’s resources by blocking access, slowing river flows, altering habitat and degrading water quality. For more than 350 years, dams on the Royal River have disrupted the river ecosystem.
The Royal River Alliance was formed to promote a vision of a healthy watershed from the river's origin to the sea. Our vision calls for shared understanding and responsibility for both the harm to the environment as well as our shared priority to heal it.
Healing starts with dam removal. Nature will do the rest.
About the Royal
The Royal River begins at the outlet of Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester, grows with tributaries flowing from Auburn, Gray, Pownal, Durham, Freeport and N. Yarmouth, and joins the Casco Bay in Yarmouth, Maine—with 141 square miles of watershed. In the 1800’s, sea-run fish like salmon, shad, alewife and blueback herring were present in the river. Today, sea-run fish are unable to swim upstream as both the Bridge and Elm Street dams in Yarmouth block fish passage and have non-functional fishways.
About Us
The Royal River Alliance is an independent, volunteer-led grassroots organization formed to promote a collaborative approach to restoring the Royal River. For over eight years, RRA members have worked to build community understanding and support for restoring a free-flowing river.
In partnership with the Town of Yarmouth, American Rivers, Royal River Conservation Trust, Maine Rivers, state and federal agencies, community members, and other organizations, RRA helped advance the removal of the Bridge Street Dam, which is now underway. This work has been part of a sustained, community-driven campaign to address the root cause of the river’s ecological fragmentation: two obsolete dams that have blocked fish passage, reduced connectivity with Casco Bay, and altered the river ecosystem for generations.
RRA’s members are local residents who care deeply about the health and future of the river. Our diverse membership includes teachers, students, engineers, fishermen, scientists, and other community volunteers. YCARE (Yarmouth Community Alliance for Racial Equity) has helped RRA broaden community engagement and include Indigenous perspectives in conversations about the river’s history and restoration.
In 2026, RRA is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) organization, enabling us to accept tax-deductible donations, pursue grants, and expand our work on behalf of the river and the community. RRA is now seeking support to complete the campaign through removal of the East Elm Street Dam. This final phase will reconnect the Royal River with Casco Bay and restore access to more than 135 miles of river and tributary habitat.
Mission
Our Mission is to responsibly restore the health and natural processes of the Royal River to allow aquatic life to freely move between the Royal River and Casco Bay of southern Maine. We seek to collaborate with others and support strategies to remedy this problem, including removal of the impassable Bridge and Elm Street dams in Yarmouth, Maine. We invite community members to join us in this mission.
To view Royal River restoration updates click here.
Elm Street Dam Yarmouth, ME
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