Webber, Threemile & Threecornered Ponds Tri-WBMP
Augusta, China, Vassalboro & Windsor, Maine – Three grants and two years of watershed planning led to the development an updated Watershed-Based Management Plan (WBMP) for three interconnected lakes in Central Maine suffering from too much phosphorus.
Ecological Instincts was contracted by the Kennebec County Soil & Water Conservation District to assist with the development of an updated Watershed-Based Management Plan (WBMP) for Webber, Threemile and Threecornered Ponds. Two of the three ponds (Webber and Threemile) are on the Maine DEPs list of impaired lakes as a result of recurring nuisance algal blooms and low water clarity readings. Over the course of this two-year project, Ecological Instincts was tasked with completing an analysis of current and historical water quality data, conducting a watershed survey and agriculture and forestry survey, assisting with various outreach activities, guiding volunteer monitoring activities, coordinating sediment sampling and analysis, completing watershed modeling, presenting at public meetings and developing a 10-year watershed action plan and updated Tri-WBMP.
Funding for this project included two Maine DEP Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) grants (2024 & 2025), and a 604(b) watershed planning grant through Maine DEP (2025-2026). Project partners include Kennebec County SWCD, Webber Pond Association, Threemile Pond Association, Threecornered Pond Community Lake Association, the Towns of China, Vassalboro and Windsor and City of Augusta, Maine DEP, Vassalboro Conservation Commission, St. Joseph’s College, and Water Resource Services.