Watershed remediation is an ongoing MPSLA project:
Good lake stewardship starts on the land.
Phosphorus is introduced to our lakes through both natural and man-made sources. Nature has designed our lakes to mitigate naturally occurring phosphorus, but the increased phosphorus introduced by humans has pushed nature past the tipping point. We must invest in watershed wide erosion control projects to further limit the introduction of man-made phosphorus and regain balance in our water ecosystems.
​Since 1999, 7 Lakes Alliance has received funding provided 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. Working collaboratively with Maine Department of Environmental Protection and local towns, this program has already brought more than $960,000 of federal grants to the Belgrade Lakes Region to increase water quality by improving erosion control on public and private roads throughout the watershed and providing support for the East Pond alum treatment. This federal funding has leveraged additional local, town, and foundation contributions of $1.5 million for these projects.
As a result of our MPSL Watershed Survey in 2017, we have specific NPS (non-point source pollution) sites that require land owner action identified in the Watershed Protection Plan (see the Watershed Survey page for more details). There is money available under the Section 319 grant to help lake residents in shore-front remediation.
There is a Remediation form (pdf download) that is required to be filled out and returned to the LakeSmart coordinators.