Lake Sebasticook is a 4300 acre lake in Newport, Maine just off I-95 mid-way between Bangor and Waterville. Sebasticook started having water quality problems in the 1950’s due to industrial, municipal, and agricultural nutrient sources. Public concern for the lake’s problems resulted in a Federal Water Quality Control Administration study in 1965. The report of the study (MacKenthun, 1968) documented the hyper-eutrophic condition of the lake and indicated the industrial and municipal discharges to the East Branch of the Sebasticook River at Corinna and Dexter were the likely causes. Continued data collection by Maine DEP and University of Maine scientists together with a computer model of internal phosphorus cycling (Hannula, 1978) led Maine DEP to formulate a restoration plan for the lake (Maine DEP, 1977). The plan consisted of three main components:
- the removal of the sewage discharge at Dexter and improvement of sewage treatment at Corinna;
- reduction of non-point phosphorus sources by installing manure storage facilities and implementing conservation programs on the watershed farms;
- reconstruction of the lake’s outlet dam to allow a 3 m fall drawdown.
A land disposal sewage treatment facility for Dexter was installed in the mid-80’s and a similar facility is currently under construction for Corinna. Manure storage facilities were constructed on 21 of the largest diary farms in the watershed during the 80’s. Conservation programs have also been implemented on many of the watershed farms. The lake’s outlet dam was reconstructed in the early 80’s with the first extended drawdown occurring in the fall of 1982. The drawdowns have continued each fall for the last 23 years.
Sebasticook Lake Recovery 1979 – 2004
T. A. Hannula Environmental Coordinator Sebasticook Lake Association
Everything Eats Alewives 