This is a list of dams in Maine that have been removed as physical impediments to free-flowing rivers or streams.
A dam owned by the Town of Penobscot on Winslow Stream, a tributary of the tidal Bagaduce River, was used to maintain the water level of Wight Pond. It was replaced with a fish passage in 2017 to allow alewife to access the pond for spawning while still maintaining the water level.
Built in 1837, the tall hydroelectric Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River blocked passage to Atlantic salmon and American shad. It was removed in 1999 after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission refused to renew its license, marking the first time the federal government ordered the removal of a dam against the wishes of its owners.
In 2025, The Nature Conservancy announced the purchase of four dams on the river â Lockwood, Hydro-Kennebec, Shawmut, and Weston â which would eventually be removed to allow for greater upstream migration of fish.
Two dams have been removed as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project: the Great Works Dam in 2012 and the Veazie Dam in 2013, each tall.
The tall Coopers Mill Dam was removed from the Sheepscot River in 2018. One year later, the furthest downstream barrier on the river, the tall Head Tide Dam, was partially removed and replaced with an elevated platform to allow for fish passage. The Head Tide Dam was a former grist mill dam that was purchased by the Atlantic Salmon Federation and the Town of Alna for the purposes of removal.
The Lower Montsweag Dam on Montsweag Brook, a tributary of the Sheepscot River, had been built to create an emergency water source for the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. The dam was removed in 2010 following the plant's decommissioning in 1997.
At the time of its removal in 2002, Sennebec Dam was the last man-made barrier on the St. George River. The dam had raised the natural water level on Sennebec Pond, and was replaced with a fish ramp that maintained the level while opening of the river and of lake habitat to fish passage.