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Do you know that Thomas Pond is on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection list of Lakes Most at Risk from Development?
If you think sloppy neighbors decrease property values, try a polluted lake. And if you think it can't happen here, you're wrong. Hundreds of Maine's lakes are at risk, and some, like China Lake, have crossed the risk line and are in serious trouble. China Lake's algae blooms have killed off the lake's trout and salmon, stifled recreational activities, caused property values to plummet, and is forcing an attempted cleanup costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. China Lake is only about 60 miles from Thomas Pond.
We all get tired of hearing the same stuff year after year, but important things bear repeating, and sometimes they don't sink in until crunch time nears. Much of what follows falls in the repetitious but bears repeating category, but some is recent information.
Phosphorous, phosphorous, phosphorous. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Same old stuff. But we're going to keep hearing about it until we get it right. It's something like warning kids about the dangers of smoking and doing drugs. If the kids don't care if they die, I suppose that's their business, but this is our lake we're talkin' about here. It was phosphorous that killed China Lake. Granted, there are other pollutants we need to be concerned with, like toxic chemicals, heavy metals, oils, and bacteria like e-coli, but phosphorus is the key. And the steps we take to prevent phosphorous from entering the lake are also effective against other pollutants.
Why is phosphorous such an evil? In a nutshell, phosphorous kills by suffocation, by depleting oxygen. Phosphorous is a potent fertilizer. It causes algae (the tiny green rabbits of the plant kingdom) to multiply rapidly. In proper amounts algae are a valuable part of the food chain. But in excess, caused by an overabundance of phosphorous, algae turn the water murky and scummy, blocking out sunlight needed by beneficial water plants, it makes rocks slimy, and it stinks. When algae die, their little corpses are broken down by oxygen-using bacteria, thus depriving water life of the ability to breathe. And if that's not enough, oxygen depletion causes phosphorous lying dormant on the bottom of the lake to be released, thus fertilizing more algae--and the beat goes on.
It doesn't take a lot of extra phosphorous to cause an algae bloom in a lake the size of Thomas Pond. What happened in China Lake was not the result of the actions of some irresponsible corporation, but of many individuals doing things out of ignorance, laziness, or lack of consideration. The cumulative impact of many small activities can quickly degrade water quality, and there are things that each of us can do if we have the information, and if we care. We've heard people say, "It's my land and I'll do with it as I please." This way of thinking is not only dangerously short-sighted, it is not true. When we buy land, we only act as wards. When we move on, others will assume the responsibility and we'd best hand it over to them as unspoiled as we got it. We can't ruin our lake, throw it in the trash, and go buy a new one. This is the only Thomas Pond we'll ever have.
How does phosphorous get into our lake? Water running off the land (stormwater runoff) picks up phosphorous, which occurs naturally in soil, rocks, and decaying vegetation. A lake surrounded by an unbroken forest receives only small, healthy doses of phosphorous when it rains because the foliage canopy diffuses the rainfall, vegetation on the ground disperses its flow, and the duff (the mulchy carpeting of leaves, pine needles, and other decaying vegetation on the forest floor) soaks it up like a sponge.
At Thomas Pond, however, stormwater (which includes spring runoff) runs along dirt roads, ditches, culverts, paths, driveways, parking areas, roofs, construction sites, and other areas stripped of vegetation.
When natural ground cover is present, only 10% of stormwater runs off, the rest infiltrates into the ground or evaporates, but in paved areas, a whopping 55% of stormwater runs off, carrying with it, not only phosphorous, but anything else in its way, such as oil, toxic chemicals, septic effluent, and sediment.
Sediment, most of which comes from erosion caused by our activities, deserves special mention because, not only does it carry phosphorous, it also upsets the aquatic environment, and it accelerates aging of the lake. No lake is forever. Over long periods of time, all lakes age and eventually become shallow wetlands because they fill in with sediment and all those little algae corpses. Rivers have a huge advantage over lakes in that they continually flush themselves, and even so, we have managed to pollute major rivers. Unlike rivers, much of the water entering and leaving a lake is surface water, so sediment and anything else stormwater or humans put into it, doesn't pass through very quickly--it's something like a toilet that doesn't flush very well.
Then there are those who dump truckloads of sand into our lake every spring because their beaches wash away. That phosphorous laden sand doesn't flush. And it does immediate damage to ecology of the lake. Dumped sand destroys fish spawning areas, kills fish eggs, smothers the developing insect community (needed by fish, frogs, birds, for food), and destroys water wildlife habitat.
And the fact that new sand needs to be added every year means the sand is spreading along the bottom, destroying as it goes.
Fertilizers and sewage contain, among other unpleasant things, copious amounts of phosphorus, as do many soaps. If dumping sand into a lake is like giving it an injection of phosphorous into its vein, using fertilizer near a lake or having a faulty septic system, is like giving it a shot in the butt.
So, how do we prevent all this phosphorous and sediment from ruining our lake and our property values? The first thing we can do is obey the laws. There are two state regulations that apply to lakefront properties: One, section 413 of the Protection and Improvement of Waters Law prohibits "...material from being placed in or washed into a water body, or placed in such a manner that it may wash or leach into water..." This law includes "soil, sand, and any untreated material." And two, the Natural Resources Protection Act, among other things, regulates activities including dredging, placing fill, removing or displacing soil, sand, or vegetation in, on, over and adjacent to a water body.
Some suggestions for acting responsibly toward our lake and its environment
Lastly, nobody likes a squealer, but nobody likes a polluted lake even more. I hate governmental intervention as much as anyone, but if a few individuals will not shoulder their share of the responsibility for keeping our lake clean and our property values high, we need to use whatever tools are available. If you know of anyone violating laws cited here, call Jack Cooper, Raymond's code enforcement officer, at 655-4742. Jack tells me that he often gets calls regarding lakeside sand and dirt dumping, excavating, tree cutting, and deck building. He investigates all reports, which can be made anonymously. If Jack finds a violation, he requests that it be corrected. If it is not, he can fine a violator up to $100 per day, and for a Department of Environmental Protection violation, like sand dumping, the fine can be much stiffer. For ongoing violations, call the DEP at 822-6300.
The serious problem of stormwater runoff at construction sites will soon be addressed. Two new laws, the Stormwater Management Law and the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Laws, which go into effect on July 1, 1997, will affect any new construction that disturbs soil, and this includes new foundations.
All this stuff is a pain. "Do this," "Don't do that," "Squeal on your neighbors." But the alternative, as pressures on our "at risk" lake increase yearly, is unthinkable: a China Lake syndrome; a slimy, smelly, polluted lake with dead fish and plummeting lakefront property values.
There are several organizations that can be contacted for further information about any of this. A good place to start is the Sebago Lake Association, PO Box 324, Windham ME 04062-0324.
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