Flooding of the Androscoggin River during December 18-19, 2003, in Canton, Maine

The Androscoggin River flooded the town of Canton, Maine in December 2003,
resulting in damage to and (or) evacuation of 44 homes. Streamflow records at
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow-gaging stations at Rumford (USGS
station identification number 01054500) and Auburn (01059000) were used to
estimate the peak streamflow for the Androscoggin in the town of Canton for
this flood (December 18-19, 2003). The estimated peak flood streamflow at
Canton was approximately 39,800 ft3/s, corresponding to an estimated recurrence
interval of 4.4 years; however, an ice jam downstream from Canton Point on
December 18-19 obstructed river flow resulting in a high-water elevation
commensurate with an open-water flood approximately equal to a 15-year event.
The high water-surface elevations attained during the December 18-19 flood
event in Canton were higher than the expected open-water flood water-surface
elevations; this verified the assumption that the water-surface elevation was
augmented due to the downstream ice jam.

The change in slope of the riverbed from upstream of Canton to the impoundment
at the downstream corporate limits, and the river bend near Stevens Island are
principal factors in ice-jam formation near Canton. The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers Ice Jam Database indicates five ice-jam-related floods (including
December 2003) for the town of Canton: March 13, 1936; January 1978; March 12,
1987; January 29, 1996; and December 18-19, 2003. There have been more
ice-jam-related flood events in Canton than these five documented events, but
the exact number and nature of ice jams in Canton cannot be determined without
further research.