Storm Water
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Storm Water Runoff and Erosion

(taken from an article in the Lewiston Sun-Journal, summer 2005).

TLIA has advocated buffering as a prime method of reducing runoff from polluting or adding phosphorus to the lake.  Trees, bushes and natural grasses absorb water and its attendant pollutants before they reach the lake.  The proof lies in the following article.

“In this season of stormy weather and floods, the University of New Hampshire has been studying the runoff that flows off parking lots, road and lawns---the chief source of water pollution in the country.

Until now, there’s been little scientific data to compare how various treatment techniques work when conditions are controlled so they’re the same from one to the next.  Retention ponds and gullies lined with gravel are the most common approaches to treating stormwater runoff, but are among the least effective at preventing pollution. 

The Stormwater Center used a 9-acre watershed next to a university parking lot to test various stormwater treatment systems.  One recessed area contained two feet of coarse sand acting as a water filter.  Another has a combination of sand, soil, wood chips and compost planted with native wetlands plants.

Among the discoveries has been that layering soils and plants to mimic a natural wetland is highly successful at containing sediment, absorbing excess nutrients and breaking down petroleum products so they don’t pollute nearby waterways or ground water.”

                                                                Erosion

Exposed soil is subject to the effects of wind and rain.  Since all land areas eventually drain into streams, rivers, lakes or coastal waters, soil and other pollutants, picked up by runoff, get deposited into these resources.  The visible impact of eroded soil is rills, gullies, and muddy water.  The invisible impact is damage to the habitats used by fish and other aquatic life.

In 1997, Maine law mandated that all construction projects of any size were required to use measures such as hay bales and silt fences on the downhill side to control sediment transport off site.  This ensured that the site was permanently stabilized with mulch or vegetation to control erosion as soon as it was feasible

On July 1, 2005, the Erosion Control Law applied to all existing chronic erosion problems in Maine’s most-at-risk watershed. ( Tripp Lake is in this category).  The law will be enforceable by both the DEP and Code Enforcement Officers in towns with watersheds named most-at-risk by DEP.

What are chronic erosion problems?  Improperly maintained camp roads, ditches and embankments showing major rills and gullies, plugged or inadequate culverts, large areas of exposed soil, washouts downhill from points of concentrated storm water runoff.

If you have any of these problems and don’t know how to solve them, contact Art Dunlap, Code Enforcement Office of Poland,  Jeff Chappell at the Municipal Garage or Phoebe Hardesty at The Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District (Tel: 207- 753-9400) .  They will direct someone to help you.

We’ve done a lot, but there’s still much to be done.