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Washed-Away Gravel a Major Pollutant for Lakes, Streams

May 06, 2009 - Most folks who live on gravel roads, where they have to do their own maintenance, think about the cost of filling in potholes and washouts. They think about the cost of new sand or gravel to fix the road, but not about where the old sand and gravel goes.

Some believe that the soil collects in the ditches. But once in a ditch, it is straight onto the nearest water: a lake, stream, river or bay. In fact, gravel roads and associated ditches are the largest source of pollution for many Maine lakes. Just think of the miles of camp roads (and ditches) around our lakes.

In statewide phone surveys, many people did not consider soil a serious pollutant. It is natural, so how can it be bad?

Every year, rainstorms and snowmelt wash away tons of gravel, sand and soil. We have all seen a stream in our neighborhood turn cloudy or brown after a rainstorm.

This cloudy water makes it difficult for fish to see and feed properly. The particles act as sandpaper against a fish's gills, causing damage and making breathing difficult.

Many fish and aquatic insects lay their eggs in gravel beds. The sediments that are deposited in the stream cover up these areas, sometimes even entombing young fish and eggs.

To add to all these problems, eroded soil particles are more than just soil particles.

They carry hitchhiking pollutants such as nutrients, oil, fertilizers, pesticides and bacteria.

To protect local water quality, a roadway needs to be designed and maintained to shed water from its surface into nearby wooded areas, not to the lake. Properly crowning the road or installing diversions will direct water away from the road surface.

Road ditches and culvert crossings also need to be properly stabilized to prevent soil erosion. Finally, dust control on the road surface is essential during the dry summer months to prevent soil particles from being transported into nearby water.

Because there will be less erosion, these practices will also reduce the amount of money that will need to be spent each year to maintain the road. They will make a smoother travel surface, too. The same practices will benefit our waters, our pocketbooks and the alignment of our cars.

To reduce soil erosion and pollution from unpaved roads, the DEP has a number of resources: manuals on how to form a camp road association and how to maintain a camp road, and training programs for contractors, landscapers and road associations.

BARB WELCH/IN OUR BACKYARD, Portland Press Herald, May 6, 2009


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