Surveys of Watershed Ponds

PWA actively surveys the ponds in our watershed to assess their health and guard against pollution and other problems. Reports are available on our
Ponds In Our Watershed page – including the February 2009 report on Duckpuddle Pond.

Over the years, PWA has undertaken an aggressive effort to survey its entire watershed to identify and remediate sources of soil erosion and other nonpoint pollution. A survey and remediation effort in Duckpuddle Pond, which had been plagued with algae blooms, netted an improvement in water quality by 2000. In 2003, the next pond in our chain, Pemaquid Pond, was surveyed by more than 30 trained volunteers. Biscay, Little and McCurdy Ponds were surveyed in 2004. Survey results indicate the greatest threat to our lake water quality is the cumulative impact of improper land use practices, such as clearing of shorefront vegetation and insufficient camp road maintenance. In response, the PWA and its partners offer training workshops about water quality, land use practices and regulations. The workshops are targeted at the general public as well as contractors, landscapists and municipal officials.

    The primary focus of PWA’s water stewardship efforts is the prevention of the introduction of invasive aquatic plants (IAP) to the ponds in the Pemaquid River watershed, primarily through a summer program of courtesy boat inspections and IAP education. Since 2003, PWA has conducted water quality monitoring at Pemaquid Beach in partnership with the Maine Healthy Beaches program. PWA also works on projects to reduce non-point source (NPS) pollution by conducting field surveys to identify possible NPS pollution and then implementing remediation for the most significant problem areas.
    Long the backbone of the organization, water quality monitoring is now coordinated by the Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program.

Loons on Pemaquid Pond

Thanks to Martha Naismith of our Board of Directors, we now have a soothing video presentation featuring Loons and Pemaquid Pond. Turn on your speakers and enjoy the show. Come back during the bleak mid-winter months to renew your faith that the loons and summer will return!

Pemaquid Beach Salt Marsh Restoration

Nestled behind Pemaquid Beach is a special place, a 6-acre salt marsh that is now on the road to once again being a healthy ecosystem. Prior to 2005, the marsh had limited saltwater input due to a roadway culvert that restricted tidal flow, which was resulting in the marsh transforming into a brackish wetland. Thanks to the initiative and diligence of local resident, Joan Lyford, in bringing attention to the problem, the culvert was replaced in 2005, restoring the natural tidal flow and increasing native salt marsh vegetation. The culvert replacement work in 2005 was completed thanks to funding from Coastal America, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Habitat Restoration Partnership, Maine Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, and the Town of Bristol.

Left Above: PWA member Hope Gould and Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve scientist Andrea Leonard sample fish.
Right Above: Pemaquid Beach Salt Marsh viewed from Fish Point Rd.

Since the culvert replacement, over 20 Pemaquid Watershed Association (PWA) volunteers have been involved in monitoring the marsh in order to document changes and assess the success of the salt marsh restoration. Experts at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve provided technical assistance and guidance for PWA’s citizen-scientist crew, with funding for the monitoring project provided by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. Sampling focused on nekton (fish), groundwater salinity, vegetation, and birds, and results from the Pemaquid marsh were compared to a reference site in Phippsburg, Maine, in order to evaluate changes over the years. PWA member, Hope Gould, 72-year-young New Harbor resident, said “Counting mummichogs and crabs at the marsh has been my favorite part so far of volunteering with PWA. It was fun!”

Left: Donna Green tests groundwater salinity in 2007.
Post-restoration monitoring results from 2005-2007 indicate that there have been substantial favorable changes in the marsh. First, percent cover of halophytic plants (those adapted to living in salty soil) increased significantly upstream of the culvert following restoration, whereas percent cover of plants that live in a brackish (slightly salty) or freshwater environment significantly decreased. What this means is that the plant community has become more typical of a salt marsh than of a brackish or freshwater marsh. Second, salinity data showed that the groundwater upstream of the culvert was not as salty as the groundwater on the beach side of the culvert prior to restoration, but following restoration, the difference in groundwater salinity between the two sides was significantly less, suggesting the marsh side is being regularly flooded with ocean waters. This is good news because healthy salt marshes are one of the most productive wildlife habitats and provide other important functions, such as water filtration and protection of the coastline from erosion.

Public access to the marsh is not permitted. However, the marsh can be viewed from Fish Point Rd in New Harbor and from an overlook site at Pemaquid Beach Park, where a 36”x 27” marsh-focused educational panel was installed last summer by Bristol Parks Commissioner, Gordon Benner. Alison Carver, local graphic artist and PWA member, designed the panel and included beautiful original artwork of several species that frequent the marsh, such as the European Green Crab and Great Blue Heron. Funding for the interpretive display was provided by the PWA, Bristol Parks and Recreation Commission, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, and the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment.

The Final Report Synopsis of the Pemaquid Salt Marsh Post-Restoration Monitoring Project is available here as a pdf file (file size approximately 2.5 Mb).

This monitoring project exemplifies PWA’s commitment to its mission of conserving the natural resources of the Pemaquid peninsula through land and water stewardship and education. PWA extends gratitude to all the volunteers involved and will continue to keep a watchful eye on the marsh. For more information on this or other PWA projects, call 207-563-2196.