Protecting our Waterways: It was a lively, informative discussion.
Thank you to all who came!
At the Hawthorne House, September 14, 2023 – A group of six panelists held a lively discussion about how their respective organizations support the health of the Lake Region waterways. The panelist’s offered perspective from a scientific, lake restoration, water quality monitoring, shoreland zoning and governance standpoint. It was acknowledged by the panel that there is a lot of growth in the Lake Region area and with it comes the impact to waterway health.
Sebago lake is the source of drinking water not only for the City of Portland, but also for 20% of the state of Maine, so the growth in population indicates stress on the waterway system. The Town of Raymond alone has 65 miles of waterways and several other small towns govern the remainder of the Sebago Lake shoreline.
Much discussion about a local shoreline violation resulted in audience concerns about how to resolve egregious violations without stressing local town resources.
Senator Tim Nangle and House Representative Jess Fay talked about the legislative process and how citizens can raise their voices to bring more attention to the challenges faced by our shoreland towns. They advised a bill is under development to assist small towns with major violations, but it will take time and pressure from constituents to bring the bill to the legislative process.
Thank you Mary Ann and Dave Moeri for organizing the event and moderating it all so well. Thank you!
Below is the recorded audio-video of the event – embedded from Youtube. Full disclosure – The Hawthorne Community Association is working on improving its audio-video equipment, system and approach.