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Pleasant Lake / Parker Pond Survey Done

November 07, 2007 - CASCO -- The field component of the volunteer watershed survey on Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond is complete. 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.

Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond are recreational gems for thousands of residents and visitors to Southwestern Maine. The survey focused not only on the lakeshore but also on the entire watershed. A watershed is the land that drains to a lake by surface runoff, tributary streams, springs and groundwater recharge. The Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond Watershed covers 5.64 and 1.06 square miles respectively in the Towns of Casco and Otisfield.

Water quality monitoring has found that bottom waters in Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond are experiencing oxygen depletion that have the potential to severely stress the cold water fishery and create conditions where phosphorus recycling from bottom sediment can occur. In observations at other Maine lakes, this trend has signaled a decline in water quality.

Through the survey, 19 volunteers from around the lake and pond, along with technical experts from local agencies documented sites where polluted runoff occurs. Eroding sediment carries phosphorus, a plant nutrient, as a hitchhiker. Activities like construction, road building, land clearing and even small residential areas with bare soil or sparse vegetation can release sediment into the watershed. If too much phosphorus runs off from the land and enters a lake, nuisance algae growth can occur.

The volunteers were trained and divided into teams to survey seven sectors on Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond. The teams, with their technical leaders, identified a total of 64 sites where polluted runoff occurs. The information gathered from the teams was then verified by technical experts and is being compiled into a watershed survey report that will provide recommendations to reduce or eliminate the pollution sources.

The report and findings will be presented to the town councils and select boards within the watersheds. The Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District works cooperatively with landowners to protect natural resources.

Information collected through this survey will not be used for regulatory or enforcement purposes. Rather, it is the first step in a long-term program to work with the community to correct pollution problems in the Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond Watershed. For more information, call Betty Williams at 892-4700.

SOURCE: BRIDGTON NEWS

DATE: 11-01-2007


Lakes: Parker Pond, Pleasant Lake
Regions: Sebago


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