PHOTO: Tiger Hill, in Sebago, part of the Loon Echo Land Trust conservation land. (Submitted photo)
STANDISH — Sebago Clean Waters recently received an $8 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant.
Portland Water District, as the lead partner for the grant, will manage the money and work closely with other SCW partners. The five-year grant will support forest conservation, land stewardship, aquatic invasives control, stream connectivity and landowner outreach in the Sebago Lake watershed.
SCW partners will use the grant to leverage another $10.5 million from public and private sources needed to reach the initiative’s five-year goal of protecting 10,000 acres of high-priority forestland in the region and implement other watershed protection measures.
The major new initiative will greatly enhance SCW’s ability to meet its goal of protecting 25% of the land in the Sebago watershed in the next 15 years. Currently, only 11% of the forests in the 234,000-acre watershed are conserved. These forests act as a natural filter for the water that feeds into Sebago Lake. As the drinking water supply for more than 200,000 people in greater Portland — Maine’s largest urban area — the lake is a unique and critical resource for the state. The increasing pace of development in the region threatens the quality of this pristine water supply.
In addition to protecting drinking water, the money will improve aquatic habitat for wildlife, boost local and regional economic benefits through the forest products sector, and provide public health benefits through increased recreational access.
“We are in a watershed moment figuratively, and now literally, thanks to this grant and our partners at Sebago Clean Waters,” said Lee Dassler, executive director of SCW partner Western Foothills Land Trust, based in Norway. “Protecting our forests and waters, strengthening the forest-based economies of our region, and ensuring biological diversity in the watershed — all elements of this grant — are essential to achieving a sustainable future for our wild and human communities.”
Sebago Clean Waters partners are Bridgton-based Loon Echo Land Trust, Western Foothills Land Trust, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Highstead Foundation, Lakes Environmental Association, Open Space Institute, Portland Water District, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land.
