For the fifth year, the Pemaquid Watershed Association monitored the water around Damariscotta's Biscay Beach for E. coli bacteria.

For the fifth year, the levels remained well below the dangerous zone.

On top of that, there was more good news to what the PWA didn't find in its waters this year, Pemaquid Watershed Association Executive Director Donna Minnis said.

“There were no recorded cases of hydrilla in any of the Pemaquid Watershed ponds,” she said.

The summer season has come to a close, so PWA will no longer be conducting its weekly tests of the ponds.

When it comes to E. Coli bacteria, the PWA tested the pond once per week from July 1 to Aug. 26. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that the limit for E. coli is 235 most probable number (MPN) of the bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.

This summer at Biscay Pond, the highest number recorded was just 99 MPN per 100 milliliters, which was recorded July 15, but by July 22 the MPN had dipped to 51, then to 30 by July 29. By the last measurement in August, the summer ended with nine MPN per 100 milliliters.

While not the only reason for the fluctuations, the spikes tend to follow the weather, specifically, the rain, Minnis said. That's why there's usually a note indicating the recent rainfall when measurements are made.

“There tends to be some correlation between the rain and the (higher levels),” she said. “The pollutants on land can get washed out into the watershed, and any kind of rain can (raise) the levels.”

If that's the case, usually a measurement is made the day after, to ensure an accurate reading, Minnis said.

Minnis said that the education and preventative measures have been especially successful against a foe that is near at hand — the invasive plant hydrilla.

The Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association (DLWA) waded into those waters during the summer. At one point, the DLWA blanketed the hydrilla with special fabric that will smother the invasive species.

So far, the PWA's best weapon has been education, Minnis said.

“We've been talking with boaters at the boat launches and getting them to wash off their boats before putting them into the water,” she said. “It takes constant vigilance. All it takes is one little fragment to get into the water, and you have a pretty big headache.”

That headache started in Damariscotta Lake in 2009, when the first samples of hydrilla began showing up. Soon, there were two areas in the lake that showed the invasive European  species growing.

For the PWA, the idea is to not even allow the species to take root, Minnis said.

“Just talking with boaters before they they get out there is one of the tools at our disposal,” she said. “We all also have privacy boat inspections, where a volunteer will talk with the boat owners then go over their boat and trailer, looking for even the smallest green scrap.

“Once they find a scrap, we send it away to a lab to be tested. So far, there have been no documented cases (of hydrilla) in any of the Pemaquid Watershed ponds.”

In addition to the privacy screenings and volunteers at boat launches, citizens calling in to report strange plants, or unknown species have been a boon to the PWA, Minnis said. She said land owners and paddlers have been quick to call when an unknown plant is spotted, but that no cases of hydrilla have been reported.

“Next year, we're hoping to start a shoreline plant patrol, where volunteers keep their eyes on the ponds,” she said.

If left unattended or undetected, hydrilla can choke out native ecosystems, Minnis said. The plant can grow up to two meters long, and its leaves can block out the sun for the native plants, and edge them out of their home turf. From there, it can turn what was once a healthy ecosystem and recreational area into a morass of stringy, inaccessible weeds, Minnis said.

“I've seen articles from Florida where it just completely takes over,” she said. “It pushes out the native species, makes it impossible to even swim — there are a lot of ripple effects.”