Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, in collaboration with the Boothbay Region Clean Drinking Water Initiative (BRCDWI), will present a free event for Boothbay Region residents to learn how to take action on climate change, preserve our bodies of water, support healthy ecosystems, and protect locally sourced drinking water. Keynote speaker Irene Barber, Adult Education Program Manager at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, will discuss native plants perfect for the water’s edge that increase beauty, biodiversity, and contribute to clean water.

The event, Native Plants for Watershed Protection, will take place Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Gardens’ Bosarge Family Education Center, 6-7:15 p.m. Following the keynote, refreshments will be on offer while representatives from BRCDWI conduct a Q&A and discuss the community-wide efforts being taken to preserve the region’s clean drinking water from Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lake. Registration is required for this free event. Visit MaineGardens.org.

“We are delighted to partner with the Gardens for this informative workshop,” says Hal Moorefield of BRCDWI. “Native plants not only provide water quality protection for our drinking water sources, they are also low maintenance, beautiful, and vital to pollinators. This workshop will be helpful to all homeowners, not just those who live on a shoreline.”

The Boothbay Region Clean Drinking Water Initiative is a collaboration among Boothbay Region Land Trust, the Boothbay Region Water District, and a broad base of community leaders including Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Boothbay Region YMCA, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport, as well as the Knickerbocker Lake Association. The goal is to forever safeguard the region’s sources of public drinking water.