Don’t pollute: Please make sure your lakefront is lake friendly!
Just follow these 10 simple tips provided by our partners at the Cobbossee Watershed District (CWD).
Check with local Code Enforcement Officer before beginning any project in the Shoreland Zone.
This includes tree removal, to ensure compliance with local ordinances and state laws designed to protect lake water quality.
A natural landscape helps clean water runoff that flows into the lake.
Leave the landscape natural and/or re-store the land to a more natural state.
Use a mixture of vegetation to maximize the ability of the land to intercept, infiltrate, and treat stormwater runoff.
Create at least a 25-foot wide buffer strip of native trees and shrubs between cleared land and waterways.
Avoid overuse of fertilizers and do not apply them before a rainfall.
Repeated fertilizer applications contribute excess nutrients to the lake.
These products have a middle “zero” in the formula (e.g., 10-0-10) that indicates the percent phosphorus.
Use phosphorus-free fertilizer on your lawn and plants.
When leaves and pine needles are close to shore, they help maintain a healthy layer which filters runoff and slows erosion. However, when they are disposed of in the lake, they can lead to algae blooms.
Do not rake leaves and pine needles into the lake.
Rocks and plants are soil stabilizers. A permit is needed for work along the shore.
Protect and repair eroding areas along lake shorelines, stream banks, and drainage ditches.
When septic systems are not regularly serviced (i.e., pumped out), the systems and leach fields can malfunction, and fail to adsorb the nutrients they are designed to reduce, leading to algae blooms.
Have your septic tank pumped and inspected frequently (every 3-5 years).
Examine where runoff from driveways and camp roads goes and re-direct it if necessary to woods or vegetated areas where it can infiltrate.
Maintain your gravel camp road to minimize surface erosion and poor drainage.
Pet waste, like human waste, represents a rich source of nutrients and other pollutants that do not belong in lake water. These pollutants can lead to algae blooms.
Pick up pet waste.
CWD will answer your questions and provide technical assistance if needed.
You can reach them at 207-377-2234 or cwd@fairpoint.net