PROGRAM OVERVIEW

We are so fortunate to have the BLA Water Quality Committee, with their dedication and love of the lakes, both participating in and directing our invaluable volunteer activities - all designed to “Protect and Preserve” the lakes for everyone.

Volunteers Reen Maslak and Maggie Shannon

Water Quality programs target phosphorous pollution, pollution results like Gloeotrichia blooms, invasive plants such as milfoil, nuisance infestations like Duck Itch (aka Swimmer's Itch), as well as long term lake monitoring programs.

In recent years, we have focussed on establishing a long term water quality monitoring program built upon the 2005-25 Gloeotrichia Research Project conducted with Colby College and the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).  For more information on Gloeotrichia, see Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Water Quality committee members actively participate in implementing the LakeSmart program on Great Pond and Long Pond. LakeSmart is a program initially developed by the DEP to effectively educate and assist property owners to manage their property in an environmentally friendly manner.   For the past few years it has been administered by the Belgrade Lakes Association and as of 2013, the Maine Lakes Society has assumed its future stewardship.

Well established now, the Volunteer Courtesy Boat Inspection Program is evolving every year due to the diligence of both the Belgrade Lakes Association's Water Quality committee members and the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance.

To be sure that invasive plants will be detected at the earliest possible moment, five public boat landings and the Belgrade Stream will again be surveyed by volunteers in canoes, kayaks and scuba gear.

Secchi disk readings and Dissolved Oxygen measurements, indications of water quality, will again be taken by Belgrade Lakes Association members through the Lake Stewards of Maine (formerly VLMP), and some further sampling will be added to extend established research interests.

Committee members are: Richard LaBelle (Chair), Pat Donahue, Andy Cook,  Dick Greenan.

If you have an idea, send it along with one of the committee members, e-mail us (info@blamaine.org), or better yet, come by and tell us about it. We welcome your thoughts and are always on the lookout for new volunteers.