by Elissa Guerrette, Water Resources Staff
“In 1997, none of this was here”.- Pat Smith, Camp Wawenock’s Co-Director, speaking about native vegetation that has grown back after driftwood was put in place to limit foot traffic.
Camp Wawenock, at the end of Raymond Cape, has been protecting Sebago Lake for over one hundred years. Recently, they obtained a conservation easement on 62 of their 90 acres of forested land. This protection has secured an astounding 1,000 feet of shoreline to remain undeveloped and preserved as a reminder of the lake’s natural beauty.
The camp’s efforts don’t stop there, though. Along with protection of forested land, they have collaborated with Portland Water District’s Lakescapers Grant Program to actively maintain the water quality of the lake.
Pat Smith, Camp Wawenock’s Co-Director, first noticed a problem with water run off in 1997 when water was carving divots into the camp’s footpaths and roads. As water flowed across the ground and over un-vegetated embankments, it carried soil, sand, and anything else it could pick up along the way, directly into the swimming area. When she mentioned this problem to officials at Camps O-AT-KA and Kieve, they told her PWD’s Water Resources Specialists (WRS) could address the problem, and Lakescapers could help pay for it.
Lakescapers is a grant program for residents, associations, businesses, municipalities, not-for-profit organizations, and camps around Sebago Lake to have their property assessed to make them more lake friendly, and then have a portion of that work paid for. “What we needed was someone to tune into what we wanted, and show us what we needed to do,” says Smith. By scheduling a meeting with a Portland Water District’s WRS, officials at Wawenock were able to set goals and a couple weeks later, the camp received a report depicting the best management practices (BMP’s) for preventing erosion and run off into the lake. They were then eligible to apply for a Lakescapers grant and were approved for $700 toward their project.
The results have been astonishing. Once-exposed root systems are now covered, water clarity has increased, pathways aren’t swept away after every rain, and vegetation has filled in around the shoreline. “We haven’t had to regrade our roads once,” said Smith, “Every seven years or so we apply for a new grant, add more erosion control mulch, and it prevents the problem.”
Wawenock’s efforts are made even more admirable by using almost exclusively natural materials for their projects. This includes using driftwood to define walking paths, transplanting native species found on their property closer to the shoreline to stabilize it, creating a washout-preventing berm near the beach with natural erosion control mulch, and hand digging drainage dips to divert runoff to water loving plants within a rain garden.
By taking advantage of the Lakescaper’s grant program, Camp Wawenock has set the precedent for good lake stewardship. They have proven that responsible landscaping not only helps those who use Sebago Lake maintain its excellent water quality, but helps people keep the shoreline stable and available for generations to come.
To find out how you can begin the Lakescapers grant process and help protect the quality of SebagoLake please contact sebagolake@pwd.org
2009: Excessive runoff had exposed roots and small shoreline vegetated buffer area allowed soil and sand to be swept into the lake.
2011: Erosion control mulch and planting of native species closer to the shoreline has stabilized erosion and filtered runoff
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