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McWain Pond Mini-Grants Available

June 11, 2008 - WATERFORD -- The McWain Pond Association (MPA) is offering $300 mini-grants and free technical assistance to residential property owners in the McWain Pond watershed to help them control erosion that might wash into the pond and cause pollution.

This assistance is made possible by a $42,000 grant MPA received in April. The grant is federal money passed through the Maine Department of Environmental Protection under the Federal Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act.

Public participation in the grant is voluntary; no regulation or enforcement is involved.

In 2006, Association volunteers, guided by a technical team, survey the watershed for erosion "hot spots" and found 95 problem areas. Many occurred on residential properties scattered throughout the entire watershed, not just along the shoreline. The good news is most sites are small and will be easy and inexpensive to fix.

That's where the mini-grant program comes in. It is designed to help landowners fix simple problems. The association will pay watershed land owners up to $300 -- to be matched 50/50 by the landowner with a contribution of cash, labor or supplies -- to apply erosion control techniques. Free consultation with the erosion control professionals will also be provided to help landowners put the erosion control measures in place.

For example, many grants might be used to install water bars across a gravel driveway to divert eroded surface materials into a vegetative buffer. Or, perhaps, a mini-grant could help cover expenses to build a gravel trench beneath a steeply pitched roof so water doesn't fall on bare soil that might be dislodged and wash into McWain Pond.

Residential mini-grants are limited to 10 property owners and will be awarded by the steering committee -- which includes representatives from MPA, the Town of Waterford, Birch Rock Camp, Camp Waziyatah, Lakes Environmental Association and the Portland Water District -- on a first-come, first-served basis.

In addition to mini-grants, funds will also be used to share the cost of fixing the larger, more complicated and expensive erosion problems documented in the watershed survey, public education and calculating pollution reduction that results from project erosion control activities.

The cumulative effect of many small fixes like this can add up to significant protection for McWain Pond's water quality. Maine DEP studies show eroding soil that washes from surrounding land is the chief threat to water quality in Maine lakes and ponds.

Phosphorus, a plant nutrient common on land but naturally limited in lakes attaches to soil particles. When excess phosphorus enters a lake it upsets the natural balance and serves as "junk food" for algae. The algae can bloom in uncontrolled masses and turn a formally clear lake into a slimy green mass. Algae blooms ruin fishing, swimming and boating and have been shown to reduce lake area property values.

Long-term water testing by Lakes Environmental Association and MPA indicates McWain Pond is vulnerable to an algae bloom. For this reason, the State of Maine included the pond on its list of priority watersheds for protection. The watershed is all the land that drains water to the pond through tributary streams, ditches, surface runoff and ground water seeps. McWain Pond's watershed sprawls across 3.9 square miles.

For more information, call Tony Butterall, MPA President, at 583-2955, or Jeff Stern, project coordinator, at 583-2723.

This article first appeared in the Bridgton News, June 5, 2008.


Lakes: McWain Pond
Regions: Sebago


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