It’s official! We will be conducting a Watershed Survey this coming year, having recently received word that the Department of Environmental Protection has reserved a place for the Clary Lake Association in their 2024 Watershed Survey Program. DEP has staff and resources to handle 4 surveys per year and we were 5th on the list until someone ahead of us dropped out of the running, allowing us to move up one. We are thrilled to be moving forward with this most important project. This is not our first watershed survey, the picture at left is the actual Clary Lake watershed map developed for the 2001 watershed survey. The watershed map hasn’t changed but the 2001 survey was conducted 22 years ago and our watershed plan is outdated and obsolete, so practically speaking, the 2024 survey will be a new survey rather than simply an update of the old one.

The purpose of a watershed survey is to identify sources of non-point source pollution- areas where soil erosion is taking place within the watershed such as along shorelines, gravel driveways, camp roads, road side ditches, dysfunctional culverts, etc. Runoff from rainstorms and snowmelt can result in soil erosion and sedimentation which makes its way into the lake, bringing with it sediment and nutrients, the most damaging of which is Phosphorus.  If you’ve been paying attention over the years, you’ll know that Phosphorus is the primary cause of algal blooms and If we want to keep our lake free of blooms, we need to reduce the amount of Phosphorus entering the lake. A watershed  survey is the first step in doing that.

The link between sediment-polluted runoff and algal blooms is direct and well documented: introduce enough sediment into the lake and about a month later you’ll see the results in the form of reduced lake transparency and dead blue-green algae floating to the surface. The featured image at the top of this post was taken by George Fergusson on 1 June 2023 exactly 1 month after a 5.5 inch rainstorm dumped TONS of sediment into Clary Lake. See June 2023 Water Level Chart Archived for more about this incident.

Once we’ve completed a watershed survey and have developed a Watershed Plan, we become eligible for Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Control Grants (“319”). DEP administers Nonpoint Source (NPS) grants to help communities make progress restoring or protecting waters named as NPS Priority Watersheds (Nonpoint Source Priority Watersheds List). While Clary Lake is not listed as an “Impaired” lake,  it IS on the list of Threatened Lakes, making it eligible for 319 funds- a dubious distinction but an important one! Grants for projects are funded with monies provided to DEP by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 319(h) or Section 604(b) of the Clean Water Act.

This is a big undertaking and planning has already begun. We have assembled a Watershed Survey Committee consisting of Committee chair Malcolm Burson, CLA President Gareth Bowen and Secretary George Fergusson, Board members Dave Knight and Jack Holland, and CLA Members at Large Carolyn Curtis, and Paul Devlin. We will start meeting with DEP tech leaders before the end of the year to start planning in earnest. The actual survey field work is expected to take place over 1 or perhaps 2 days in April or May next spring. The fieldwork will be will be done by 5 teams consisting of 4-5 volunteers and a tech leader, and we’re going to need approximately 20 volunteers to help with work. We’ll provide training, likely in early Spring 2024.

This “A Citizen’s Guide to Volunteer Watershed Surveys” should answer most  of your questions about watershed surveys. If you’d like to be part of this important project, either as a volunteer for the actual survey or in some other capacity, please do not hesitate to contact us at watershed@clarylake.org or use our Contact Form and someone will be in touch.