The Friends of Cross Lake, partnering with the County of Aroostook and others, recently received notice from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection of a two-year Phase II grant award of $120,400 for the agricultural conservation practices of winter cover crops and conservation crop rotation on watershed farms. This brings a total of $350,000 in grant funds awarded to FOCL and its partners in the past 5 years to improve Cross Lake’s water quality.
The grant will continue ongoing efforts to restore Cross Lake’s water quality to meet state standards and complements the 10-year USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service National Water Quality Initiative project in the Dickey and Daigle Brook, and Cross Lake watersheds. This program provides special funding to farms in watersheds of impaired waterbodies for conservation practices that protect water quality and has provided over $1.8 million to farms in these three watersheds in the past five years.
Of the more than 6,000 lakes and ponds in Maine, Cross Lake in northern Aroostook County is one of only 22 in the whole state on DEP’s Impaired Lakes Priority List. The purpose of the list is to encourage local action to restore lakes in watersheds most vulnerable to nonpoint source pollution, which comes from many dispersed sources, and to prioritize resources and funds where they can make a difference.
Cross Lake is on the list because it does not meet the state standards for water clarity and has had almost annual algal blooms because it receives too much phosphorus (a necessary plant nutrient that also feeds algae in the lake) from its large watershed of 58 square miles. FOCL was formed in 2018 by concerned local people to find and fund workable solutions to Cross Lake’s water quality problems.
After conducting a watershed survey in 2019, FOCL completed a 10-year Watershed-Based Management Plan in 2021 with the County, many other partners. and a $17,400 DEP planning grant provided by EPA under Section 604(b) of the Clean Water Act. This plan laid the groundwork for actions needed to restore Cross Lake’s water quality.
Also in 2021, FOCL, partnering again with the County, the town of Fort Kent, and many others, received a Phase I DEP grant of $212,300 to start to implement actions in the Plan. Both the Phase I and Phase II grants were provided by EPA under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.
The following major work was accomplished with this grant funding:
‘Living shoreline’ stabilization of 10 eroded shorelines on Cross Lake shorefront properties by Powers Property Maintenance of Presque Isle;
Construction of significant erosion control practices on the severely eroded Black Lake Road by the Fort Kent Public Works Department;
Conservation crop rotation on 375 acres of watershed farmland, winter cover on 245 acres, and multispecies cover on 220 acres.
In addition, plenty of education and outreach took place, including eight LakeSmart evaluations on shorefront properties, meetings with the selectboards or town councils of the four organized towns in the watershed, and welcome packets with information about Cross Lake and FOCL, Common Loons, invasive aquatic species, and lake-friendly practices were given to all Cross Lake camp owners.
To learn more about LakeSmart, Maine Lakes, and their other programs, visit https://www.lakes.me/. To learn more about Maine’s Common Loon, visit https://maineaudubon.org/projects/loons/, and to learn more about invasive aquatic species, visit https://www.maine.gov/dep/water/invasives/index.html or https://www.lakestewardsofmaine.org/. A special threat to most lakes in the Fish River Chain, including Cross Lake, is invasive zebra mussels, found only 30 miles away on the Madawaska River dam in Edmundston, New Brunswick.
According to FOCL President Kirk St. Peter, Cross Lake’s water clarity and phosphorus levels have greatly improved the last couple of years, this year in particular, with the average water clarity increasing from about 8.5 feet historically to 15 feet in 2024 and the average in-lake phosphorus level decreasing from a historical average of 17 parts per billion (ppb) to 11 ppb so far in 2024. Several years of data are needed to confirm this is due to the ongoing work in the watershed, but he’s optimistic! He thanked the many supporters and partners of FOCL and everyone who has participated in grants or other projects. He and FOCL supporters also give much credit to farmers who participated in the Phase I grant and/or in the National Water Quality Initiative project.
To learn more about FOCL and its projects, contact Cheryl St. Peter, FOCL Project Manager, at countyee@fairpoint.net or visit https://www.facebook.com/friendsofcrosslake (a website is in development). Commented St. Peter, who has overseen the grant work and other FOCL projects, “The greatest threat to our lake is the belief that someone else will save it.”
