March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Webb Brook watershed program planned

WALTHAM — Landowners near six Waltham ponds could be paid to practice better methods of farming and grazing by participating in a program to protect the water quality of the Union River and Graham Lake.

Called the Webb Brook Watershed Water Quality Project, the program is aimed at those who use land in the Webb Brook watershed for farming, blueberry production or grazing. A meeting about the program will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, at the USDA Building in Ellsworth.

According to Sue Hill, the county executive director of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, $40,000 in federal funding has been earmarked for the program in Waltham. Those interested must sign up between Jan. 4 and Jan. 22 at the ASCS office in the USDA Building at Ellsworth. The next sign-up period is not expected until August. The program will run for three years.

The Webb Brook watershed includes six ponds: Georges, Abrams, Molasses, Big Webb, Little Webb, and Scammon. Water from the area empties into Graham Lake and the Union River. Of the 23,735 acres in the Webb Brook watershed, about 13 percent is water. Another 79 percent is forest, leaving less than 10 percent for homes, blueberry fields, pasture and farming. Of that, about 1,500 acres are in blueberry production.

Anyone using the land for crops or grazing is eligible to apply for the program, Hill said Wednesday. Blueberry producers willing to manage their fields more intensely could potentially receive about $20 per acre for their acreage in the watershed. A management plan could include efforts to curb pesticide use and to use fertilizers more wisely in the effort to stem water pollution.

Those using the land for pasture and hay production may also qualify for incentive payments if they agree to conduct periodic soil testing and to manage their land more productively through integrated crop management.

About $35 per acre is available for those who qualify for critical area planting. Any land that has extensive erosion problems could qualify, particularly if the erosion contributes to water pollution.

The Waltham project is one of five such federally funded projects in the state. Other projects are in the Knox-Lincoln County district, two are in Aroostook County, and one is in Cumberland County.

To qualify for funds, the ASCS had to show that the watershed emptied into an area considered a high priority by the Department of Environmental Protection. The emphasis of this and other similarly funded projects is to improve water quality by controlling what runs off land in the watershed areas.

The Webb Brook watershed is part of the greater Union River watershed that an volunteer group is seeking to protect. The non-profit River Union was formed about three years ago to monitor and protect the river which flows between Township 39 north of Aurora and the Union River Bay in Ellsworth.

Hill said that better management techniques should contribute to those efforts by controlling the non-point source pollution that eventually finds its way to the Union River.

The meeting on Jan. 6 will provide details about the incentive payments and the management practices that must be completed for payment. The water-quality resource managment plan and integrated crop management will also be discussed at the meeting.

For kore information about the project call to Hill at 667-8462, the Soil Conservation Service at 667-8663, or the Extension office at 667-8212.


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