Volunteer with DLWA

We need your help!

DLWA is looking for volunteers to get involved with a variety of projects in the watershed. For more information about any of the listed volunteer opportunities, please contact Julia McLeod at 207-549-3836 or Julia@dlwa.org.

We hope you will consider helping out with one or more of the following important projects:

• Water Wonder Day & Watershed Education
  

  Help with programs to teach and engage students in activities focusing on issues ranging from water quality to recycling. DLWA's education committee visits local schools several times during the year and hosts Water Wonder Day in June, which is a full day of environmental education on the lake for 6th grade students in the watershed.

• Special Events
  

  Our Events Committee works together to plan the organization’s annual meeting, held in August, and other special events. Do you like to organize dance parties, silent auctions, or canoe races? We need your help?

• Courtesy Boat Inspections & Invasive Plant Patrol teams:
  

  Every summer, Courtesy Boat Inspector volunteers wait at the public boat launch to check boats for incoming plant fragments which could be invasive aquatic weeds, and to provide a welcoming face for boaters using the lake, educating them about the threats to our watershed posed by invasive plants. In 2011, eurasian milfoil fragments were prevented from entering the lake by these volunteers.

  Unfortunately, the CBI program is not always enough to protect our lake, and in 2009 the invasive plant hydrilla was discovered in Damariscotta Lake. We need volunteers to help survey the lakeshore for other hydrilla infestations as part of our Invasive Plant Patrol.

  The invasive plant patrol is the perfect volunteer opportunity for anyone who enjoys paddling, snorkeling, or scuba diving or for those who are concerned with keeping Damariscotta Lake free of invasive plants. The role of a plant patroller is to survey an area of the lake once a year, noting what native plants exist in that location and if any suspicious plants are found. The best time of the year to conduct a plant survey is from late June to September, when aquatic plants are fully grown and easy to identify.

  Check out the Events Calendar for training opportunities.

• LakeSmart Screeners
  

  LakeSmart is a recognition program for shorefront residents who are protecting the lake through good landscaping practices. Screeners evaluate homes of individuals who have volunteered to participate in the program based on criteria in the following categories: (1) Road, driveway, and parking areas, (2) Structures and septic system, (3) Lawn, recreation areas, and footpaths, and (4) Shorefront and beach areas.

  All screeners must attend a special DEP training to participate in this program.

• Trail Work

  Volunteers are needed to help maintain DLWA’s Davis Stream Trail and West Branch Preserve trail system. Trail work may vary from light brush clearing to chain saw use to the construction of bog bridges.

• Water Quality Monitoring
  

  DLWA’s water quality monitoring team measures the lake’s clarity and dissolved oxygen content twice a month from May into October. Becoming a water quality monitor requires training and re-certification every year.

Please also check out our Volunteer Maine opportunity listings.

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