by Cory Dunning, Lakes Environmental Association
The landscape surrounding Moose Pond can tell us a lot about the quality of the water. Since the majority of precipitation that replenishes our lakes, ponds, and rivers does not fall directly into them, instead flowing across the surrounding areas, the overall condition of the watershed is one of the most vital aspects in determining waterbody health. For this reason, LEA often works with partners, like the Moose Pond Association, to assess erosion and stormwater problems in a watershed by conducting a survey.
Surveying a watershed involves trained staff and volunteers walking the land that drains to the lake and identifying areas of erosion. It is a community-wide effort that gives us the opportunity to go door-to-door visiting landowners to discuss potential improvements that could be made to their properties to improve lake health.
In the spring of 2020, LEA and the Moose Pond Association plan on teaming up to survey a portion of the Moose Pond Watershed for erosion sources. If all goes well in the spring survey, we will likely expand the effort to the entire watershed. This type of project is the critical first step in fixing these problems and is needed to obtain funding to implement on-the-ground fixes. We will need help to take on this project, so if you are interested in participating in the survey, please contact me at cory@mainelakes.org or Moose Pond Association President, Mark Patterson.