The Nature Conservancy has reached a deal to buy four hydropower dams on the Kennebec River with the intent to remove the structures and restore the waterway for native sea run fish.

Under the historic agreement, dam owner Brookfield Renewable will continue to operate the Lockwood, Hydro-Kennebec, Shawmut, and Weston dams while the Conservancy undergoes a long-term process to decommission the structures.

Conservancy Associate State Director Alex Mas said the purchase could pave the way to open more than 800 miles of rivers and streams to ocean.

"There aren't very many places in the country that have this kind of potential to fully reconnect a river from some of the best spawning and rearing habitat all the way out to a really productive ocean in the Gulf of Maine," Mas said in an interv

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