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MOUNT VERNON — Young adults from Vienna, Manchester and Livermore took part this summer in installing low-cost erosion control projects for the 30 Mile River Watershed Association.
The association is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the lakes, ponds and streams spanning the area from New Sharon to Leeds. It includes Chesterville, Fayette, Mount Vernon, Readfield, Vienna and Wayne. For nearly a decade, 30MRWA’s Youth Conservation Corps has been working hard to keep these beautiful waters — so important to these communities — clean and healthy, the organization said.
One of the largest threats to water quality is polluted stormwater runoff. As stormwater flows, it can erode away bare ground, picking up pollutants along the way. This polluted runoff adds phosphorus, a nutrient which feeds algae, to lakes and ponds. Therefore, as phosphorus increases, the likelihood of harmful algal blooms also increases. The blooms cause a decline in water quality and hurt property values, recreation, and aquatic organisms. To decrease the amount of phosphorus entering lakes and ponds and to preserve water quality, 30MRWA began its YCC program in 2010.
This summer was the YCC’s eighth season working throughout the 30 Mile River Watershed to install the low-cost erosion control projects. This year’s YCC crew, ranging in age from 17 to 20, shared an interest in protecting the environment, despite their varied educational pursuits including astrophysics, aerospace engineering and, mechanical engineering.
Marissa Rossi, a Maine Conservation Corps (AmeriCorps Program) environmental Sseward who has been working with 30MRWA since January, led the crew.
“The YCC program is incredibly valuable,” Rossi said. “It gives young adults work experience with environmental stewardship, raises awareness about lake protection, and allows 30MRWA to form positive relationships with community members throughout the watershed.”
This year, the YCC crew completed 11 projects over a six-week period, installing a total of 36 conservation measures on nine lakes and ponds throughout the watershed, including Androscoggin Lake, David Pond, Echo Lake, Flying Pond, Lovejoy Pond, Parker Pond, Pickerel Pond, Pocasset Lake and Wayne’s Mill Pond.
Some examples of these conservation measures include installing infiltration steps, placing riprap along eroding shorelines, and spreading erosion control mulch on pathways, which reduce contaminants entering the water.
PHOTO: Members of the 2018 YCC crew (from top to bottom): Mitchell Root of Manchester, Connor Firth of Vienna, Marissa Rossi (crew leader), Amber Delaney of Livermore, and Rylee Delaney of Livermore. (Submitted photo)
