Torsey Pond watershed project underway!

Last year’s application to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP) to mitigate and prevent erosion and runoff was successful, so now a two-year project aimed at improving and protecting the water quality of Torsey Pond is about to kick into high gear. The Torsey Pond Watershed Protection Project, Phase I is sponsored by the Cobbossee Watershed District (CWD) and is aimed at reducing nonpoint source (NPS) phosphorus pollution to the pond. The specific phases of the project are outlined below, and services will be provided at no cost or by cost sharing through the grant (the total amount of the grant depends on participation and matching funds). Please read further about how you can be involved! Assisting the CWD on the project are the Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed (FOCW) with support from, and in cooperation with, the Torsey Pond Association (TPA). This project follows the 2015 Torsey Pond Watershed Survey Project that identified numerous NPS sites that contribute pollution, particularly phosphorus, to the pond, and follows recommendations of the Torsey Pond Watershed-Based Protection Plan (2020). According to CWD’s Executive Director, Bill Monagle, the pond has maintained consistently good water quality over the past four decades, but measures should be taken to address NPS sources to provide long-term protection to Torsey Pond.

What’s available to protect Torsey Pond

Shoreline stabilization and/or buffer strip installation:

• LakeSmart-Start! visits by FOCW to shorefront property owners, providing free consultation and recommendations for “lake friendly” landscaping practices. Any costs associated with the state permit and nonmachinery-based project labor (Youth Conservation Corps) will be covered by this grant. Property owners will be responsible for material costs. Please read the attached LakeSmartStart! program description for details and who to contact to get started.
• Technical assistance will be available by the CWD to individual landowners, road associations and Public Works Departments of the towns of Mt. Vernon and Readfield.
• Examples include planting native vegetation to stabilize soil on the property, including the shorefront, and to create buffers for treatment of stormwater runoff.

Upgrade and improvement of private and public roads and the addressing of other land uses that cause surface erosion and other drainage problems: 

• The CWD will guide the implementation of corrective actions at documented NPS sites associated with approximately six roads and one private property in the watershed. Landowners, gravel/camp roads, as well as town roads, will enter into a 60% cost-share agreement. Initially, those sites that were included in the list of top candidate sites accompanying the grant proposal will be targeted for best management practices (BMP) implementation.

Outreach campaign to educate watershed residents about the value of lake protection: 

• FOCW will work with schools to promote watershed education through its Watershed Science Program and will be offering its TadPole Patrol program — an on-the-water lake ecology educational program. Keep an eye out for announcements on date and time for this program.

A Local Watershed Steering Committee has been formed that includes representatives of the CWD, DEP, FOCW and Torsey Pond Association. The TPA representatives are Keith Coulling, Mark Dershwitz, and Carolyn Gorry. The project is partly funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. 

The Torsey Pond Watershed Survey