Crescent Lake water quality improvement celebratory picnic

RAYMOND – The Crescent Lake Association is inviting watershed residents, grant recipients and partners to attend a celebratory picnic at the Town of Raymond Public Beach on Rt. 85 next to the boat launch at 12 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2016. The purpose of the picnic is to celebrate the numerous lake protection projects that have been completed around the lake through the Crescent Lake Watershed Improvement Project, Phase II, which began in 2014 and is wrapping up next month. A tour of several of recently completed sites will be featured at the picnic including a buffer planting at the town beach, stabilizing the boat launch, and the drainage improvements on Rt. 85. Pack a bag lunch and learn more about the project and how you can do your part to protect Crescent Lake's water quality.

The 3-year grant focused on addressing soil erosion from roads, shorefronts and youth camps around the lake with a goal of addressing twenty-seven sites. Practices such as installing dripline trenches, capturing roof runoff, resurfacing eroding driveways, and installing native plants at the shoreline are a few of the ways that landowners have participated in the grant program. The grant provided cost-share funds ranging from $350 for residential properties up to $4,000 for the larger road and camp sites. 

 

Water quality data collected on Crescent Lake since 1974 indicate that the lake has above average water quality. However, the lake experiences high depletion of dissolved oxygen in the deepest part of the lake in late summer which increases the potential for nuisance algal blooms. Crescent Lake’s water quality problems can be attributed to polluted runoff – namely eroded soil –that washes into the lake from its surrounding watershed. Planting buffers is a simple and effective way to help offset the effects of development.

For more information contact Jennifer Jespersen at jenj@fbenvironmental.com. The Crescent Lake project is sponsored in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. The funding is administered by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in Partnership with EPA. Local contributions are from the Portland Water District, Crescent Lake Watershed Association and the Town of Raymond. Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District is providing technical assistance for residential property owners and engineering services. FB Environmental Associates is the managing consultant for the Town of Raymond. In-kind contributions include volunteer assistance from the Crescent Lake Watershed Restoration Steering Committee which includes representatives of the Crescent Lake Watershed Association, the Raymond Waterways Protective Association, and the Town of Raymond.