Stewardship

Loons and Leads Don't Mix

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We all enjoy the presence of the loons on our lakes. But most of us don’t realize that largest cause of mature loon death is ingestion of lead from fishing sinkers and tackle. Many anglers use lead weights (sinkers) and jigs to get their fishing lines to sink. These weights may come off of the line or be left if a hook gets snagged. Loons and other water birds swallow grit and small stones to help their digestive process. If they swallow a lead sinker they end up with lead poisoning. Once started, there is no way to rescue a loon from lead poisoning. There are inexpensive alternatives to lead. Maine law has banned the sale of lead-based sinkers weighing 1/2 ounce or less. You can help by purging your tackle box of any lead weights. The Washington Lakes Watershed Association will exchange lead weights with non-lead replacements at no charge to help protect our lakes and loons. Call us at 207.845.2661. And spread the word to your fishing buddies. Love Our Lakes by protecting our loons from lead poisoning.

Invasive Plants

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One of the most troublesome lake pollution effects is the introduction of non-native plants which invade the lake, choking off natural plants and eventually creating large mats of floating plant life which interfere with recreation and dramatically lower overall water quality. The Washington lakes are presently clear of invasive plants and we want to keep it that way. This means making sure that there is no foreign plant material on boats when launched into our lakes. Please clean all boats and trailers, and dispose of any plant material well away from the lake before launching. It’s a simple task but one that if not followed can result in costly and often inadequate remediation efforts later to rid the lake of invasive species.

To find out more about invasive aquatic plants, contact the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (www.maine.gov/dep/water/invasives/), or Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program (www.lakestewardsofmaine.org/).

Erosion Control

The most common pollutants that get into lakes are the toxic chemicals that flow into them along with the runoff from the nearby properties.  The best way to control that runoff into the lakes is to make sure waterfront properties have adequate buffers. A buffer is an area of natural plants, shrubs, and trees along the shoreline between lawns, roads or driveways, or other high use areas and the lake. Paved or other impervious surfaces should be avoided along the lake edges. Private launch areas should be grassed so that bare soil can’t erode into the lake. Septic systems should be pumped regularly and maintained in top condition to avoid discharge of untreated waste matter into the lake. All runoff eventually reaches the lakes, so erosion control is important everywhere in the watershed.

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If you contemplate doing any construction, or disturbing the shoreline in any way, please make sure adequate buffering is part of your plans. If your property is in the shoreland zone, a permit will be necessary prior to doing any work. The Town of Washington Code Enforcement Officer, Corey Fortin, is available to consult with and advise on any land use regulations. Corey can be contacted at 207.458.7055 and email CEO.LPI.WashingtonMaine@gmail.com.  He can also be reached at the Washington Town Office (207.845.2897). Knox - Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District (KLSWCD) offers free advice on erosion control and may visit your property,  if you request it, to consult and advise. KLSWCD is located at 893 West Street (Route 90) Suite 103 Rockport, Maine. 207.593.2040.  [They are 1.4 miles south of Route 17 on Route 90.]  You may contact them via email at Info@knox-lincoln.org or visit their website at www.knox-lincoln.org.  

Washington Lakes Watershed Association can be contacted by mail at P.O. Box 398, Washington, ME 04574 and via email at wlwassn@gmail.com.

 

Chinese Mystery Snails (CMS) are in Washington Pond

The presence of these large snails was reported to WLWA in 2021 and we identified them as Cipangopaludina chinensis (commonly known as Chinese Mystery Snails or trap-door snails). CMS are non-indigenous freshwater snails originating in Asia, becoming widespread and invasive in North America, Belgium and the Netherlands. We are very concerned about potential impacts, and began an effort to learn about the snails, educate the public, prevent further spreading, and work on mitigating their population growth and movement within Washington Pond.

CMS were introduced to this continent originally as a food source, and subsequently spread also by the aquarium and water garden trades. It seems that dumping aquariums and the movement of watercraft, bait buckets and other means has caused significant further spread. CMS are currently obtainable through internet ordering, except in the few jurisdictions where their sale is prohibited by law. 

 

Facts:

  • CMS are able to outcompete native mollusks for resources as they have multiple feeding mechanisms and a high reproduction rate.

  • Female C. chinensis give birth to live, shelled young that are between 3–5 mm in shell diameter. They brood 2 to 7 times a year, producing 30-50 or more fully formed young per brood and have been observed expelling young when stressed.

  • CMS are resistant to predation due to their size and their protective operculum (trap door), which also prevents use of chemical controls.

  • Dense populations can clog intake pipes.

  • Die-offs emitting foul odors have been reported.

  • They may act as an alternate host to parasites carried by native snails that can be harmful to waterfowl.

  • CMS are heavy feeders, therefore dense populations can impact the food web and potentially, the water chemistry. There is also potential for CMS to transfer contaminants, as they are efficient bio-accumulators.

While public awareness is growing, there are certainly gaps in reporting their distribution. Citizen scientists are helping to close that gap, but much more research needs to be done to measure the level of threat to our indigenous biodiversity.

Here in Washington, we are proposing signage to educate and prevent the spread. It is widely accepted that we lack effective means to eradicate these invaders, however, we have taken steps toward remediation. We have removed and disposed of a significant number of these snails. We are refining our collection project, including safe disposal instructions (important because CMS can live beyond 9 weeks out of water). Further, we plan to map the lakes and track where they are found over time. 

 

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