Windham accepting applications for watershed protection grants

By Ed Pierce

The Town of Windham is now accepting applications for Watershed Protection Grants.

The Town of Windham is now accepting applications for
Watershed Protection Grants for projects within the town
that promote community-based efforts to protect and restore
diverse natural resources. Preference will be shown toward
projects with priority watersheds, as well as projects that
promote the sharing of equipment, knowledge and other
resources with other non-profit area groups such as those
who remove milfoil and other invasive plants from local
bodies of water. FILE PHOTO 
  

According to Windham Environmental and Sustainability Coordinator Mary Wicklund, the purpose of the Watershed Protection Grant Program is to provide small grants for volunteer and educational organizations to complete projects within the town that promote community-based efforts to protect and restore diverse natural resources.

Each year, the Windham Town Council funds a grant program for protecting and preserving local watersheds.

Wicklund said that preference will be shown toward projects within priority watersheds as well as projects that promote the sharing of equipment, knowledge, and other resources with other non-profit groups in the Town.

Completed applications must be received by the Environmental & Sustainability Coordinator by Monday, March 2.

Applicant interviews will be conducted between 6 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18. More details will be sent to applicants following an application submission.

Watershed Protection Grant application forms are available on the Town’s website at: https://windhammaine.us/DocumentCenter/View/11390/Windham-Watershed-Protection-Grant-Application-2025- or from the Environmental & Sustainability Coordinator.

Examples of past watershed grants include funding for removing invasive milfoil plants from Collins Pond, funding for training volunteers to test water quality throughout the spring and summer in Windham, funding for the ongoing maintenance of Hopkins Dam, and the Forest Lake Association spent 230 volunteer hours on maintaining, and remediating two sites as identified in a Forest Lake NPS Watershed Survey to prevent stormwater from washing gravel road material and water sand directly into Forest Lake.

Watersheds are areas of land where runoff from rain and snow drains into a lake, stream, river or wetland. Water constantly travels over the land’s surfaces that include farmland, lawns and city streets, on its course to a waterway. When it rains, water runs over the surface picking up any pollutants that are on the way. Small amounts of motor oil, pet waste, pesticides or litter are multiplied along the journey to the nearest waterway.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, healthy watersheds provide many ecosystem services including, but not limited to nutrient cycling, carbon storage, erosion/sedimentation control, increased biodiversity, soil formation, wildlife movement corridors, water storage, water filtration, flood control, food, timber and recreation, as well as reduced vulnerability to invasive species, the effects of climate change and other natural disasters.

The EPA says that these goods and services are essential to social, environmental and economic well-being.

The wide array of critical ecosystem services provided by healthy watersheds is frequently undervalued when making land use decisions. Due to the complexity of natural systems and economic precedents, it is difficult to assign a dollar amount to a particular ecosystem service. However, there is a large body of research and evidence to support the fact that intact healthy ecosystems avoid costly restoration and ecosystem service replacement and provide long-term economic opportunities and jobs.

Some healthy watershed ecosystem services include:

** Improved water quality. Natural landscapes and floodplains filter pollutants from point and nonpoint sources, promote nutrient cycling, and help retain sediment.

** Carbon storage opportunities. Watersheds with intact natural land cover and soil resources can hold and store carbons thereby offsetting dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.

** Increased resilience in the face of climate change threats. Intact floodplains enable healthy watersheds to be better adapted to more extreme weather patterns and changes in precipitation associated with climate change.

** Reduced risk for invasive species colonization. Naturally functioning ecosystems are more resilient and can favor indigenous species, helping them out-compete invasive species.

For questions or to learn more about Windham’s Watershed Protection Grants, send an email to Wicklund at [email protected] or call 207-777-1948. <