Watershed Protection Grant - 2005 Projects
2005 Nature Trail Reconstruction - Bristol Consolidated School
Picture: Bristol students plant buffer plants with Augusta city officials and community members.
Kevin Crafts, Paulette Gilbert and Megan Dinsmore with their 7th & 3rd grade classes collaborated to redesign and rebuild the stream-side trail behind their school. With the help of the Pemaquid Watershed Association and the Maine DEP students researched a trail design that would decrease erosion and make the trail more accessible to people with disabilities.
The Knox-Lincoln county Soil and Water Conservation Districtrict organized a workshop to plant erosion controlling plants, and several students attended to help plant native plants between the trail and the stream.
On the main project days nearly all of the school’s students turned out to cart gravel, install a rubber waterbar and box culvert, and surface the entire trail with a organic stabilizer called superhumous. The 3rd graders have designed a sign to be installed at the site explaining why buffer gardens are important to stream health, and the 7th graders are creating a brochure to invite local people of all abilities to enjoy the trail.
2005 Tripp Lake Buffer Planting – Poland Regional High School
Photo
Michelle Garcia and her 11th & 12th grade Terrestrial Biology Class planted two buffer gardens at the Hemlock Shores Campground to help prevent future erosion and educate citizens. Students learned about watersheds through a visit from the Maine DEP. They researched erosion and visited Shaker Hill Nursery to get information on appropriate plants to use at the site before purchasing them.
Androscoggin Soil and Water Conservation District assisted students in designing “rubber razor” water bars to divert water off the dirt camp road. On the project day, students planted a 16x20 foot upper garden and a larger 60x8 foot rain garden to collect run-off. They also installed the water bars they had built. Finally the students published brochures to show what they had achieved in the course of the project.
2005 Eddie Brook Erosion Control - Connors Emerson School (Bar Harbor)
Photo
Steve Gable Richard and his 8th grade classes learned how eroded soil, the #1 pollutant to water by volume, could negatively impact stream and estuary health. They planted a buffer and took other steps to stop dirt from eroding from their playground into near-by Eddie Brook.
With help from the Mount Desert Island Water Quality Coalition, the Maine DEP and local volunteers they spent an entire day planting buffer plants on the bank between their playground and Eddie Brook, rebuilding the playground that had washed away, building a settling pool for runoff leaving the playground and picking up litter in the stream’s watershed. In addition they came up with the ingenious plan for reinforcing the existing playground fence with branches from invasive Norway Maples in an effort to deter future erosion.
For the outreach component of their project, the 8th graders developed educational signs to place at the buffer garden, and planned to talk about their project at a town meeting.
2005 Wilson Pond Shore Stabilization and Buffer - Monmouth Academy
Photo
Andy Bosworth and his 11th and 12th grade Ecology Class designed and planted four buffer gardens to minimize runoff from a private residence into Wilson Pond. With help from staff from the DEP, Cobbossee Watershed District, Friends of Cobbossee Watershed and Kennebec County Soil and Water Conservation District (KCSWCD) the students identified a private site that would benefit from buffer plantings to minimize runoff to the lake.
During the fall of 2004 the students visited and mapped the site and collected soil samples. With assistance from Josh Platt (KCSWCD), Bob Moore and Scott Wing the students designed vegetative buffers. They picked out plants, visited nurseries, drafted a budget and developed a planting design. They looked for the areas where the plantings would do the most to “slow the flow”.
Once the site dried out sufficiently the students removed the sod and established four beds with composted topsoil. The beds were covered with erosion control mulch and planted with several water tollerant native plant species.
Late in May the students sponsored an open house at the site. They wanted to share with the community the knowledge about lake ecology that they had acquired during the year and to show off their work. A letter was sent to all of the members of the Wilson, Berry, Dexter Watershed Association inviting them to come visit the site. The students had left one buffer incomplete to finish during the field day. They also had poster displays that they discussed with visitors. The class installed a sign on the lakefront that will remain at the site for the next year.
