Water Quality Milfoil Conservation Corps Water Quality Technical Info

WHAT IS A WATERSHED?
A watershed actually refers to the land from which water flows into a particular water body.

Do you know what a Watershed is? Or what the BRCA Watershed Program does?

First what is a watershed, also so know as a drainage basin? It is all the land surrounding and draining down to a body of water. Think of it as a bowl with the lake at the bottom -- water inside the rim drains down to the lake -- water outside drains into another watershed. Lakes and ponds have watersheds. Rivers and streams have watersheds. Watersheds are nested -- East Pond has a discreet watershed, but is part of the Belgrade Lakes Watershed which in turn is part of the Kennebec River watershed, which is part of the Gulf of Maine watershed. In our region, there are kettle-hole ponds, like Hamilton Pond, which are not part of the Belgrade Lakes Watershed, because each is discreet and has no connection (outflow) with the greater area.

Water moves downhill -- law of gravity, etc. What this means is that pollutants within the watershed tend to be transported to the lake or river at the bottom (what doesn't sink into the groundwater). For our lakes, this means that the development of a piece of land miles from the lake can have an effect on water quality. Runoff and erosion carry phosphorus to streams and then to the lake.

The Belgrade Lakes Watershed

The Belgrade Lakes Watershed encompasses 180 square miles in 13 central Maine towns.

The watershed’s seven major lakes have more than 19,500 acres of surface area. The average lake depth ranges from four meters (North Pond) to 11 meters (Long Pond).  The maximum lake depth is 34 meters (Messalonskee Lake). Loons, ducks, bass, trout, perch, pickerel, and pike all depend on the lakes.

In addition to the lakes, the watershed is made up of a wide variety of wildlife habitats, including forests (70%), shrub scrub (10%), open land (10%), and wetlands (6.6%). Moose, deer, bears, coyotes, bobcats, and foxes all live within the watershed.

The BRCA Watershed Program

The BRCA Watershed Program was started in 1999, with the goal of developing a watershed protection plan for the Belgrade Lakes. The initial focus was on conducting Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution (erosion and runoff) surveys of the East Pond, North Pond, and Great Pond watersheds. We have since completed surveys of all the lake watersheds. Reports of these surveys are available from the BRCA office (465-6039) for a nominal fee.

With some completed surveys in hand, the BRCA began applying for grant funds available through the Maine Department of Environment under the Federal Clean Water Act, Section 319. These so-called "319 Funds" are appropriated by Congress to address the threat to water quality posed by NPS Pollution. Both BRCA and the Kennebec County Soil and Water Conservation District (KCSWCD) have received grant money to address camp road problems, buffer strip plantings, driveway repair and design, etc. These funds are used in a "cost-share" agreement between the property owners and the BRCA -- usually splitting the costs 50-50. Currently, the BRCA Watershed Program is administrating grants for work in the East Pond, Great Pond and Long Pond Watersheds. The KCSWCD has a grant working in the Salmon-McGrath watershed.

The BRCA Watershed Program is more than just a source of funds for repairing problems. The BRCA office in Belgrade Lakes has a wealth of information on watershed issues -- literally dozens of pamphlets and booklets published by Maine DEP and others. There are folks in the office, the Watershed Program Coordinator and the Conservation Corps Director who can answer your questions about buffers, camp roads, etc. Call BRCA office at 495-6039 or e-mail brca@gwi.net.