SASWC wraps up Drew’s Lake project

    The Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District recently completed the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Watershed Improvement Financial Assistance Partnership (WIFAP) grant project at Drews Lake entitled, “Meduxnekeag Lake Shoreline Erosion Control Project”.
    The primary purposes of the project were to significantly reduce erosion and export of sediment and phosphorus into Meduxnekeag (Drews) Lake.
    Based on a survey conducted by SASWCD in 2004, residential sources were estimated to be 30 percent of the lake’s pollution problems. Problems included shoreline erosion, lack of vegetative buffers and steep slopes needing stabilization.
    The District has been working in the Drews Lake Watershed for a number of years with the road association and camp owners. For this project, 16 camp owners committed to participation in protecting their lake. Designs for each site were developed with Best Management Practices (BMPs) determined for each one. These BMPs included vegetated buffers, rip rap at slopes and shoreline, reshaping of driveways, sediment basins, and shoreline plantings – including rain gardens, which a local horticulturalist recommended.
LAKE STUDY — Residential sources were estimated to be 30 percent of the lake’s pollution problems according to a SASWC survey. Problems included shoreline erosion, lack of vegetative buffers and steep slopes needing stabilization were identified and containment solutions like this silt fence are suggested by the report.
    Each property owner has signed a contract with SASWCD to maintain their BMPs for a period of at least five years. Don Collins, technical coordinator for the project, will develop a report on the BMPs pollutant load reductions, which will help determine the positive effects of these implemented practices on the lake’s health.
    For more information about the erosion control project, please contact the Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District at 532-2087, ext 3.