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Thompson Lake Erosion Control Grant Landed

February 18, 2010 - OTISFIELD - - A two-year grant project to control erosion in the Otisfield portion of the Thompson Lake Watershed has begun.

The cooperative effort is headed by the Thompson Lake Environmental Association (TLEA) and is funded by a $61,189 grant from the U.S. Clean Water Act. This federal grant is passed through the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP). The grant is matched by $40,976 in contributions of cash, volunteer labor and supplies from TLEA, the Town of Otisfield, private road associations and watershed residents.

Thompson Lake is a valuable resource for four towns - Oxford, Poland, Casco and Otisfield that share its shoreline in southwestern Maine. The lake is fringed with hundreds of seasonal and year-round residences, and is home to several summer youth camps. It offers tremendous recreational opportunities for fishing, swimming, boating and exceptional wildlife viewing.

The lakes' huge 35-square mile watershed includes Androscoggin, Cumberland and Oxford Counties. A watershed is all the land that drains to the lake through tributary streams, ditches, surface runoff or ground water seeps.

In 2008, TLEA conducted a survey in the Otisfield portion of the Thompson Lake Watershed. Volunteers led by a technical team looked for places where soil erosion occurs.

Maine DEP studies show soil erosion is the chief threat to water quality in Maine lakes. The main culprit is phosphorus. Phosphorus, a plant nutrient common in terrestrial soils but naturally limited in lakes, attaches to eroding soil particles that wash from surrounding lands. When excess phosphorus enters a lake it upsets the natural balance and feeds an explosive algae growth called a bloom. An algae bloom can turn an entire lake green, and choke out recreational uses and wildlife habitat. Severe blooms reduce shoreline property values, which has a negative ripple effect throughout a town's tax base.

Such algae blooms have occurred in several Maine lakes. TLEA wants to make sure they don't happen in Thompson Lake. The lake currently boasts some of the best water quality in Maine. However, long-term water testing indicates Thompson Lake is vulnerable to the insidious effects of erosion.

Surveyors in 2008 found 96 erosion sites in Otisfield. Findings were documented in a report. TLEA, with the survey report in hand, applied for and received the $61,189 implementation grant, which has just started. The grant allows TLEA to share the costs of fixing large erosion sites with the Town of Otisfield, private road associations and individual landowners, and pays for an engineer to design erosion control plans for complicated sites. Like the watershed survey that preceded it, this grant is a cooperative effort. No regulation or enforcement is involved.

Bridgton News, February 18, 2010

Lakes: Thompson Lake
Regions: Sebago


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