All posts by collinspondassoc

How you can help, News, Things to do

Lakes Like Less Lawn

Published by: Portland Water

https://www.pwd.org/sites/default/files/lakes-llike-less-lawn.pdf

Why Do Lakes Like Less Lawn?
Whether you have lakefront property or live many feet from the lake, you can help protect lake
water quality by reducing your lawn and making your property more beautiful and more valuable
at the same time. The goal of this publication is to show you how!
When it rains, most of the water runs off smooth surfaces, such as lawns, instead of soaking in.
And shallow grass root systems do little to prevent soil erosion. This means fertilizers and pesticides
applied to lawns end up in the lake where they feed algae and degrade water quality. Eroded soil also
feeds algae and too much algae in a lake can make the water murky and green. Studies have shown
that property values are lower on lakes with less clear water. Too much algae in a lake also lowers
oxygen levels in the water which can threaten cold water fish species, other wildlife, and a healthy
lake habitat.
By planting a variety of trees, shrubs, ground covers, and flowering perennials you can protect
the lake. All of these have deeper root systems that hold soil in place, absorb more runoff, and filter
out more pollutants than grass. Native plant species are the best to use because they are adapted to
local conditions. This means they require little maintenance once established, so you’ll have more
time to relax and enjoy the lake. Plus, they provide important habitat and food for birds, butterflies,
and other wildlife. (link above to full article)

News

Collin Pond’s Meeting Notices

Collins Pond West Side Road Association Meeting, June 11, 2022 Windham Public Library, 217 Windham Center Rd, Windham, ME Agendas and proxies have been emailed or mailed to members. Important: Town of Windham is requiring residents of all private roads by a 2/3 vote to continue winter maintenance. A directed proxy of approval was included in the mailing. You are encouraged to attend but if unable to would you please return a signed proxy to an officer or board member. In addition, we are soliciting for the open position of Secretary/Clerk. If the position remains unfilled it will be necessary to contract the position thus decreasing the amount available for road improvements.

Collins Pond Improvement Association Annual Meeting June 25, 2022, 9:00am at Sherry Andre’s Residence, 5 Wedgewood Drive, Windham ME. Directions: off of 115, turn onto Running Brook Road; follow up and around end of Collins Pond. Take right at top of hill onto Collinwood Circle. Go to to end of road. Wedgewood Drive is on right- go straight down and it is the red/brown house, #5 on right at bottom of road. Paddle Directions: dark red/brown house with lots of windows with all white railings on the eastern side of the pond – straight across from Emerson/Fern beach and to the left of the little cove

Agenda

  • Convene & Introductions
  • Secretary’s & Treasurer’s Reports
  • Grants & Other Funding
  • Dash Boat/Milfoil Control Efforts
  • Pond Donations
  • Dam Report
  • New Business
  • Election of Officers & Board

News

Lake or Pond?

One of the most frequently asked questions posed of biologists in the Lake Assessment Section of Maine DEP, is what makes an inland body of freshwater a lake or a pond? About half of the 6,000 lakes and ponds that have been assigned a state identification number have been named, many having two or three names. At least thirty have one name with the word lake in it and the other with the word pond. For example, Bryant Pond is also known as Lake Christopher and Dexter Pond sports the name Wassookeag Lake! It is often these dual names that make folks wonder exactly where do we draw the line in Maine?

One classic distinction is that sunlight penetrates to the bottom of all areas of a pond in contrast to lakes, which have deep waters that receive no sunlight at all. Another is that ponds generally have small surface areas and lakes have large surfaces. So a combination of surface area and depth are considered from a technical perspective. 

Text Box:

Some of our waters are definitely lakes – they are both large and deep – indisputably lakes. Others are ponds – small and shallow. And there is a transition between the two where the definition becomes fuzzy. If we held to the depth distinction, some ponds would become lakes mid-summer when algal populations limit light penetration to the bottom. The surface area distinction makes no sense for seven-acre waters that are 50 feet deep (like Maine’s kettle ponds), or for 400-acre waters that have emergent vegetation across their entire surface. 

So to answer the question above: no definitive line exists between lakes and ponds. The one distinction that has any legal application is the designation of a water as a Great Pond. Maine state statues define lakes and ponds greater than ten acres in size as Great Ponds. If an impounded water is greater than thirty acres in size it is also legally considered a Great Pond; impounded waters less than thirty acres that were greater than ten acres before dammed are also Great Ponds. 

Thus there is no exact technical distinction between lakes and ponds. All lakes and ponds provide critical habitat for other living creatures – aquatic macroinvertebrates, plankton, fish, wildlife and vegetation – and all need protection, so that clean fresh water continues to be one of Maine’s premier natural resources.

Information provided by Linda Bacon at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

News

Town of Windam News flash

Posted on: March 16, 2021

Local Rabies Case

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recently identified a of a case of animal rabies in a fox in Windham.  If you have any questions, please contact Maine CDC, Division of Disease Surveillance at 1-800-821-5821.   If you see a stray domestic or wild animal acting strangely please reach out to our Animal Control Officer, Jacqueline Frye, at 892-2525.

fox