Midcoast Conservancy offers support for homeowners and road associations looking to fix erosion issues on personal or community property on Damariscotta Lake. Erosion control projects are the number one way to reduce pollution, ensuring clean water and a clear lake into the future. Roads or property with bare, exposed soil from erosion after heavy rains are harbingers of runoff and erosion problems.

The Midcoast Conservancy staff is currently lining up projects for the next round of erosion control grant funding, which can provide 60% of the cost of erosion projects, a great incentive to address the issue.

Rainstorms are increasing in volume and intensity, duration and frequency. Ditches, gravel roadways, and drainages that were once stable are now eroding. Sediment carries nutrients which are the greatest impairment to the long term health of a lake, as they lead to algae blooms; erosion control is an effective way to keep the lake clean.

Midcoast Conservancy is looking to identify areas of sediment movement associated with heavy rainfall, as well as shoreland stabilization concerns. Interested property owners can contact Midcoast Conservancy Senior Watershed Manager Cara O’Donnell (207-521-4655) for more details.