 The Sebasticook River Watershed Association (SRWA) is working to educate people about the historical, environmental and economic importance of the Sebasticook River watershed.
Today the Sebasticook River is cleaner than it has been in over 100 years.
The SRWA intends to welcome the river back and befriend an important and beautiful watershed. We favor continued restoration of the river, and will work to improve the lakes, ponds, wetlands and streams in the watershed.
Read about our efforts to conserve and restore this beautiful river.
Water Quality Of Sebasticook Lake Is Improving
By Paul Mitnik, President, SRWA
For many decades Sebasticook Lake in Newport has experienced severe algae blooms. Some of the lake restoration measures undertaken by the Maine Dept of Environmental Protection and others for the last three decades include the removal of two point sources discharges above the lake; application of Best Management Practices to reduce pollution that originates from runoff; and the annual drawdown of Sebasticook Lake in late summer to flush bottom sediments. Water quality monitoring by the Dept. of Environmental Protection and the volunteer lake monitor for Sebasticook Lake has recently indicated that the lake may finally be recovering.
Secchi depth is a way to measure water transparency and involves lowering a black and white disk vertically from a boat into the water column until you cannot see it. The water transparency is an indication of the amount of phytoplankton or floating algae in lakes of low water color. The DEP uses a secchi depth reading of under two meters as an indication for nuisance blooms. The lowest secchi depth reading last summer on Sebasticook Lake was 2.4 meters. It was the first summer in many decades that the lake has not experienced a nuisance bloom. The lowest secchi depth reading this summer so far has been 2.0 meters and has been at this level for most of August. This is a large improvement from previous years when secchi depth readings were often under one meter. To all of those who made this possible, thank you!
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