What’s New?
-
Sign up for our First Annual Watershed Cleanup Day Sunday, September 10th!
-
Purchase tickets for our First Annual Watershed Community Social Wednesday, September 13th!
-
Learn more about voluntary Milfoil Stickers.
-
Explore our latest newsletter
When so many organizations are asking you to give, you may be wondering–why choose 30MRWA?
We’ll tell you:
1. We practice holistic conservation. Effective conservation requires many approaches to truly understand and protect our lakes. Our water quality monitoring, courtesy boat inspections, invasive plant patrols, Youth Conservation Corps, camp road assistance, watershed surveys and education programming all cover different aspects of lake protection. Our strategy is to protect, improve, prevent, understand, and educate.
2. Our programs cover an extensive region. We help conserve more than twenty lakes, ponds and streams in Kennebec, Androscoggin and Franklin Counties, including Androscoggin Lake, Basin Pond, David Pond, Echo Lake, Flying Pond, Kimball Pond, Lovejoy Pond, Minnehonk Lake, Parker Pond, Pocasset Lake and Tilton Pond.
3. We’re expanding. 2016 was the first year we implemented our water quality monitoring program, in which we worked alongside volunteers to gather critical data from six lakes. In 2017, we hope to add two more lakes to our schedule, along with more workshops, lectures, education programs, and invasive plant surveys.
4. We need your help. The Annual Fund is essential to supporting all our programming, which is carried out by just two year-round staff and our small team of seasonal employees.
5. Most importantly: You love your lakes! Maine lakes are at risk of losing their environmental, aesthetic, recreational, and economic value. Help us study, protect, and improve our lakes before it is too late.
Q: What is a watershed?
A: Everyone lives in a watershed, no matter how much or how little water is nearby. A watershed is an area of land that drains into a river, stream or lake. It includes everything within its borders – the land, air, plants, animals, towns, farms and people. Watersheds drain (or “shed”) water into lakes through streams and ditches, directly over the ground surface and through groundwater. Everything that happens in a lake’s watershed eventually impacts the lake’s water quality, for better or worse.
Q: What is the 30 Mile River Watershed?
A: The 30 Mile River Watershed is a 200 square-mile rural region northwest of Augusta, Maine that encompasses over 20 lakes and ponds, many of which form a chain referred to as the “30 Mile River.” The chain runs from Kimball Pond south to Androscoggin Lake, and includes some of the more pristine lakes in Central Maine.