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Thompson Lake Erosion Drastically Reduced

September 19, 2011 - Otisfield — A plan to reduce erosion around Thompson Lake has succeeded beyond expectations, project leaders told the Board of Selectmen during its September 7 meeting.

Two years after the Thompson Lake Environmental Association (TLEA) received a grant to fix erosion problems, TLEA's project coordinator Jeff Sterns announced the project's success and thanked the board for its "strong support."

On August 4, 2009, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) granted the TLEA $61,189 to protect Thompson Lake from algal blooms.

During the meeting, Sterns restated to the board that his job requirement, as part of the grant, is to measure the amount of soil erosion reduction in each of the [nine] projects that the TLEA has done.

Of the nine town road sites, the TLEA has managed to get more than 100 tons per year of soil from going into Thompson Lake, said Sterns.

"I have to admit," he said, "soil loss calculations are pretty ambiguous. It's not a great, well-honed science, but I got to do it."

According to Sterns, soil erosion is the most serious threat to water quality in Maine lakes.

Sterns said that his job is to calculate the actual tonnage of soil, not the amount of pollutants in the soil. However, he did mention that he plans on calculating the phosphorous portion of the project at a later date.

While too much phosphorous entering into a lake fertilizes the growth of algae (which can turn lakes green and ruin their quality), the board agreed that nevertheless, the TLEA's progress to reduce erosion is "really impressive."

"Our [initial] goal was to reduce soil erosion input into Thompson Lake by 80 tons per year," said Sterns."Just the town road sites exceed that number. Then, when you factor in the other work we have done with private road associations and landowners and things like that, this project is going to really be off the charts."

"It's an education for the town, the residents, the landowners, and the highway department," said Selectman Rick Micklon.

Board members agreed with Micklon and proceeded to sign a contract "to spend a certain amount of money per project and to maintain [future] sites," said Sterns.

"All of the money from this grant is used up," he said, "but it was a 50/50 split."

Since the beginning of the project, Sterns said the town has kicked in approximately $16,000 toward soil erosion reductions.

According to Sterns, all of the town roads have been fixed.

"I am hoping to do a similar type of erosion control project in Poland, Casco, and Oxford," he said. "I just need the money to do it."

In other news, the board:

• Authorized Otisfield Fire Chief Mike Hooker to allow Fire/EMS members to operate a personal vehicle emergency light with an authorization card that would have to be reissued every five years.

• Heard Hooker thank the board for its time and energy put into clean-up efforts from Hurricane Irene.

• Discussed citizen's concerns about being declined the service of FairPoint Communications; the board agreed it was not the town's problem.

• Agreed that it would save time and money to provide tax card information and tax maps on the town's website.

• Estimated the total public damage caused by Hurricane Irene to be $4,755.

• Discussed the town's smoking policy; agreed to abide by the state policy and follow those guidelines; agreed on the need for no-smoking signs outside of municipal buildings.

• Announced the town's recent donation of $200 to the local chapter of the Salvation Army.

• Agreed to hold off on a fireworks ordinance until a policy is needed.

Kayla Collins, Advertiser Democrat, September 2011


Lakes: Thompson Lake
Regions: Sebago


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