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Watershed survey grant awarded to Pleasant Lake/Parker Pond Association

June 07, 2007 - The Pleasant Lake/Parker Pond Association was awarded a watershed grant of $11,514 to survey for erosion sources that impact, have the potential to impact, water quality of the lake in pond. The survey is a joint project between the Pleasant Lake/Parker Pond Association, the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

The Casco/Otisfield Pleasant Lake watershed survey will be conducted this summer. All property within the watershed boundaries will be surveyed for existing erosion sources. All property owners in the watershed will also receive notification prior to the survey and will have the option of participating or not. This is a voluntary program and homeowners not wishing to participate can contact Lou Wetzel at 627 -- 4939, or by mail to 983 Meadow Rd, Casco, ME 04015 or Betty Williams at 892 -- 4700, or by mail to Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District, 35 Main St., Suite 3, Windham, ME 04062.

A steering committee of six Pleasant Lake/Parker Pond Association members will guide project activities and will need to meet three to four times over the course of the year. Meetings will likely last two to three hours with Betty Williams, the project coordinator. Together, the committee will define the areas to be surveyed as well as other pertinent matters that need to be dealt with.

A major task is signing up 15 to 20 volunteers to participate in carrying out the survey on Saturday, June 9. The day will begin at 8 a.m. with a breakfast provided in the dining room at Camp Acadia in Casco. A morning classroom training session will start at 8:30 a.m. until approximately 9:30 a.m. with a slideshow detailing and instructing volunteers various things to look for. Six to seven teams of volunteers, along with professional technical leaders will survey watershed properties immediately following the morning training session. It is hopeful that each group will finish this section by afternoon. Volunteers are also asked to bring digital cameras and GPS units if they have them. Anyone wanting to do this important task on June 9, contact Lou Wetzel and 627 -- 4939 as soon as possible. Project coordinator, Betty Williams, will happily respond to anyone who might have questions before agreeing to participate. She may be reached at 892 -- 4700.

The result of all the above tasks will be published in a beautifully designed 15 to 20 page color report which will list all the various incidents of pollutants found leading to a water source included in this report recommended procedures needed to remedy the problems. The names of the steering committee members and volunteers will also be included in the report. During the following year, it is customary for the project coordinator to contact various sources for monies to put towards solving the problem.

No watershed can become operative without the approval and concurrence of the town or towns in which surveys will be conducted. Both Otisfield and Casco have been in compliance with this mandate.

The budget for conducting the watershed survey is as follows:

MDEP watershed grant funds $11,514

Local matching funds $9,406

Total cost $20,919

The Project coordinator will expand the $11,515 in grant funds to complete the following tasks:

1. prepare and coordinate meetings

2. prepare agendas and meeting minutes

3. write the landowner notification letter

4. prepare the mailing

5. write and submit press releases before and after the survey

6. prepare a PowerPoint presentation on survey findings to present to towns and the Association

7. organize the watershed survey training

8. prepare survey materials

9. attend the training and provide technical support

10. follow up of identified sites and calculate pollutant load estimates

11. compile all the survey data and enter that into an Excel spreadsheet

12. survey, comment, edit, and incorporate reviewer comments and finalize the survey report

13. complete MDEP progress reports, compile evidence, prepare invoice estimations and write the final project report.

Lake Association members, volunteers, and town officials who participated in meetings, training, and participate on the survey day will generate in-kind match. The volunteer rate is $18.54 per hour, each hour spent by each person doing related survey work will generate $18.54 per hour. The in-kind match requirement for this project is $7,906. Other items that are considered in-kind match include meeting space, mileage of participants, reviewing tax maps, providing a watershed mailing lists, attended mailing session, pounds light board presentations, newsletter articles, Association presentations, participating in the training, conducting the surveys, the training room facility, collecting all survey materials, reviewing and commenting on the draft survey report, and the association will coordinate all MDEP submissions of reports.

Pleasant Lake/Parker Pond Cash matching funds: $250

Town of Otisfield cash matching funds: $500..

Portland Water District cash matching funds: $750.

Total cash matching funds: $1500.

This article appeared in its original form in the advertiser Democrat, June 7, 2007

Lakes: Parker Pond, Pleasant Pond
Regions: Sebago


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