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"The Watershed"

The resources of the watershed are to be enjoyed today, but they are also to be protected if they are to be enjoyed tomorrow. Almost everything we do in the watershed has an impact on our environment, hence on the quality of the lake. Whether you live on the lakeshore or elsewhere in the watershed, activities such as home construction, landscaping, forestry or agriculture all have the potential of creating adverse erosion and runoff, which add phosphorus and other nutrients to the lake resulting in lower water quality.

Poor water quality affects all of us:

It makes it less desirable to boat and swim in the lake.
It affects the sustainability of fish populations.
It becomes less desirable for seasonal visitors to frequent the lake thus affecting the local economy
Finally, as demonstrated in communities elsewhere in Maine, when water quality decreases, the value of lakefront properties decrease. This results in lower tax revenues to the towns from lakefront properties. Since the towns still need the same amount of funding to operate, the end result is an increase in tax rate to make up the difference; this means that taxes for property owners not on the lakeshore increase. This is an unhappy scenario for everyone.

So what can you do to help protect our lake?

Today there are two major areas of concern with respect to the lake: the discovery of Hydrilla in the Lake and phosphorus and other nutrient runoff affecting the water quality.

Hydrilla

In September 2009, Hydrilla was confirmed in Damariscotta Lake by both the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program. The infestation was found by DLWA volunteer Dick Butterfield who had attended an invasive aquatic plant workshop in July of 2009. Hydrilla is considered to be the worst invasive aquatic plant in North America and is currently only found in one other Maine Lake, Pickerel Pond in Limerick. Damariscotta Lake is now the 31st Maine Lake known to have an invasive aquatic plant, and the first known in Lincoln County. It is unknown how this plant was introduced and how long it has been in the lake. Hydrilla is native to parts of Africa, Australia, and Asia. It is not known where the Hydrilla in Damariscotta Lake came from nor how long it has been in the Lake.

DLWA currently has 2 volunteer-based programs to help prevent the introduction and spread of invasive aquatic plants in the lake: Courtesy Boat Inspections and the Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) Workshop and Certification Program.

Courtesy Boat Inspector volunteers spend shifts at the Route 213 State Launch in Jefferson on weekends checking all incoming and outgoing boats and trailers for plant fragments. With Hydrilla known to be in the lake, Courtesy Boat Inspectors will now working to prevent any new invasive plants from entering the lake as well as working to prevent any Hydrilla from leaving the lake on outgoing boats.
IPP volunteers patrol a section of the lake’s shoreline once a year looking for invasive aquatic plants, and recording native plant species found. The best time to conduct an aquatic plant survey is at the end of the summer when plants are fully grown, making them easy to see and identify.

LakeSmart

DLWA started the LakeSmart program on Damariscotta Lake in the summer of 2009, working with property owners to help them maintain lake-friendly yards. DLWA also has a well-established water quality monitoring team who test for dissolved oxygen content and take secchi disk readings.

LakeSmart is a free program to property owners within the watershed who are concerned with the lake-friendliness of their homes. This program rates properties based on 4 categories:

Road, Driveway, and Parking Area
Structures and Septic System
Lawn, Recreation Areas, and Footpaths
Shorefront and Beach Areas

There is also a bonus category for property owners with undeveloped land within the watershed.

The 3-year goal of the LakeSmart program is to have a 15% award rate in a defined focus area. For Damariscotta Lake, DLWA has chosen 3 different geographic locations for our focus area: Great Bay, the Narrows, and the South Arm. Each area consists of 36 member properties, for an over all focus area of 108 properties making DLWA’s 3 year LakeSmart award goal 18 LakeSmart properties. LakeSmart is not limited to these focus areas, however. If you are interested in having your property evaluated or being a volunteer LakeSmart property pre-screener, please contact DLWA at 549-3836 or dlwastaff@roadrunner.com

LakeSmart started on Damariscotta Lake in the summer of 2009. DLWA is participating in this program in collaboration with the Pemaquid Watershed Association. Funding for this program for 3 years comes from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, who provide free training to LakeSmart “pre-screener” volunteers, pamphlets and evaluation forms, and LakeSmart property visits by paid DEP/volunteer evaluators. More information about LakeSmart can be found online at the DEP’s website.

The first property evaluated by the Lake Smart team to meet all the criteria for a Lake Smart award is owned by Marty and Betty Welt of Nobleboro.

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Documents In This Section:

DOCUMENT	DATE PUBLISHED	FORMAT	FILE SIZE
(Note: All documents will open in a new window.)
Water Quality: How It Works	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	11.7 KB
Erosion on Shorefront Property	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	20 KB
Erosion Control for Homeowners	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	18.3 KB
Vegetative Streambank Stabilization	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	13.3 KB
Vegetated Phosphorus Buffer Strips	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	15.9 KB
Trees, Shrubs, Vines and Groundcovers	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	13.8 KB
Fertilizer Basics	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	19.1 KB
Riprap for Shoreline Protection	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	12.1 KB
Riprap for Streambank Protection	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	12.7 KB
Temporary Check Dams	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	10.2 KB
Silt Fencing and Hay Bale Barriers	3/20/2002	Adobe Acrobat	8.4 KB
Damariscotta Lake Water Quality Monitoring & Assessment Report 2001	4/25/2002	Adobe Acrobat	32.1 KB

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