Tracking trends in lake water quality.
Water Quality Monitoring and Reports
One of the most important projects of Washington Lakes Watershed Association is to facilitate periodic water quality testing in Crystal Lake and Washington Pond.
Until recently, annual water quality data was gathered at least once a year for each body of water. David Allen, who resides on Crystal Lake, took the measurements and sent them to the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program which tracks the reports over time. Larry Esancy who lives on Washington Pond and assisted in data collection reported his findings to an associate in Union. Consistent data helps identify and track trends in lake water quality as lakes and ponds experience a high degree of seasonal and annual variability. Annual data collection increases the ability to identify changing conditions over time.
In addition to the annual monitoring by David Allen and Larry Esancy, on a several year basis a complete set of tests were conducted by water resource management professionals, and a full report generated. The most recent report conducted by a water resource management professional occurred in 2012, five years since similar tests taken in 2007. As in 2007, the 2012 testing and report were undertaken and provided by Scott Williams, Aquatic Biologist at Lake and Watershed Resource Management Associates of Turner, Maine.
In 2015, the Washington Lakes Watershed Association embarked upon its most exhaustive year of sampling to date as part of a new data collection regime. Thanks to the amazing commitment of two Washington Pond residents, Rob Stenger and Roger Cady, water was sampled monthly from June through September. For 2016, Roger and Rob solicited the assistance of Garrison Beck of the Midcoast Conservancy. Reports are now completed by the WLWA Water Quality Team itself. As a result, the 2016 - 2022 Water Quality Reports are by far the most comprehensive that's ever been done. Midcoast Conservancy continues to help this effort with the loan of expensive instrumentation required for this monitoring.
The links below offer complete copies of the 2012 report by Scott Williams, the 2015 and 2016 report prepared by Rob Stenger and Roger Cady, as well as the 2017 - 2022 reports prepared by Roger Cady.
Washington Lakes Water Quality Reports
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2012
The findings in all the annual reports suggest that the most effective way to ensure that all indicators of lake water quality remain stable - or even improve over time - is through watershed stewardship. This includes raising awareness among landowners about ways in which the effects of development on water quality can be minimized and developing a community plan to protect and manage the watershed. The Executive Summary for the 2022 report offers some indication that the efforts of the community are having desired results. From the Summary: Starting in 2015, under the auspices of the organization “Lake Stewards of Maine” (LSM), WLWA volunteers undertook to create the report on an annual basis to give the town a more frequent
and comprehensive view of lakes quality.” The 2022 report is the eighth report in that series. 2022 continues to add to the comprehensive data set created by WLWA, certified by LSM and accepted into the State of Maine database maintained by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). We encourage residents in the watershed to consider volunteering to help in this very important work.To learn more about the water quality parameters that Rob Stenger and Roger Cady tested, you may want to check out, "A Citizen's Guide to Understanding and Monitoring Lakes and Streams," a publication of the State of Washington's Department of Ecology.