Long Creek Watershed Management Activities
Links down this page: Overview; Highlights from the Watershed Tour (November 16, 2005); Resources & Links; Contacts
See also: Long Creek Restoration Project (offsite)
Overview
Long Creek is a low-gradient (gently-sloped), sandy-silty bottomed, urban, freshwater stream that flows through the municipalities of South Portland, Westbrook, and a small portion of Portland, Maine into Clark’s Pond, the Fore River, and eventually Casco Bay. A variety of land-uses, including retail and other commercial development, office parks, a golf course, some industrial facilities, a portion of a landfill, and some residential areas exist in the study watersheds. Data from sampling events between 1999 and 2004 at different stations throughout the watershed have found that many stretches of Long Creek violate state water quality standards for either aquatic life criteria (i.e., their aquatic insect, crustacean, and fish communities are impaired), dissolved oxygen criteria, or both. These degraded conditions are believed to be the result of the effects of urbanization of the watershed. Examples of these effects include high water temperatures, low baseflow volumes, high pollutant loads, altered hydrologies (rainfall-runoff patterns), and degraded habitats. In this watershed these impacts are the result of human development of local parcels of land, especially where it encroaches into the stream corridor, degrading streamside (riparian) forests and filling flood plains. Development has also resulted in large percentages of local land area being covered with impervious surfaces (e.g., roads, parking lots, rooftops, etc.), dramatically changing both the quality and quantity of stormwater reaching the stream. Also, many of the existing stormwater treatment systems are either outdated, malfunctioning, or not being being maintained.
In 2005, a number of agency, nonprofit, and private organizations began discussions about how to develop a watershed management plan to correct the above-mentioned problems and bring the stream back into attainment of state water quality standards. These stakeholders are also exploring how to improve the recreational and public access attributes of the watershed to help make the local neighborhoods more enjoyable places to live and recreate. This webpage provides a central clearinghouse for updates about important new developments in the management of the watershed and also maintains an archive of information from past studies and management efforts.
Highlights from the Watershed Tour (November 16, 2005)
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Resources & Links
Contact
