Raymond Waterways’ Annual Meeting focuses on keeping Raymond lakes, ponds and brooks healthy

A vastly improved Courtesy Boat Inspection program, a new initiative to hand-remove weeds on Turtle Cove on Sebago, a continuing program to lessen erosion, and a talk from an expert on maintaining camp roads were the subjects of the annual meeting of the Raymond Waterways Protective Association on Aug. 5.

Raymond Waterways is a 50-year-old non-profit organization, dedicated to keeping town lakes, ponds, and brooks healthy and free of invasive plants and animals. The theme of this year’s annual meeting was what we as water users and lakefront owners can do to protect Raymond’s most valuable natural resources. The organization is funded by private donations and grants from the town and state and is overseen by a volunteer board of directors.

“The great increase in hours and reliability of our Courtesy Boat Inspectors, which staff 4 boat launches in Raymond, was the subject of Ollie Kyllonen’s talk,” said Nancy Crilly-Kirk, RWPA president. “As manager for the RW Courtesy Boat Inspection program, Ollie reported that as of late July, Raymond Waterways’ CBI’s have checked 3,100 boats, removed 10 weeds, one of them invasive, and covered 2,100 hours. There were brief periods where scheduled coverage was not met, but overall, the coverage has increased from 47 percent last year to 97 percent so far this year at all launches.”

Pete Rowland, Raymond Waterways treasurer and a specially trained volunteer lead person for removing invasive milfoil in Turtle Cove on Sebago Lake, reported that his team has made progress in the main entry channel, but, despite the combined efforts of diver-assisted suction harvesting and hand removal, there are parts of the cove with worsening infestations and additional volunteer and hired help will be needed.

“Continuing use by anglers and other boaters adds to the regeneration of the weeds,” Rowland said.

Steve Craine, Raymond Waterways Environmental Officer, suggested an analogy between risks to lake health and risks in human heart disease.

“Doctors explain that heart disease may result from modifiable risks, such as diet, exercise, and lifestyle, and non-modifiable risks, such as genes and environment,” he said. “As a potential heart patient, you want to focus on the modifiable factors. In the case of our lakes, by far, the biggest modifiable risk to the lakes is nonpoint source pollution.”

Craine and another board member, Ron Schanze, volunteer to give free, non-regulatory advice to waterfront owners to minimize that pollution through the LakeSmart program.

The main speaker at the meeting was Heather Huntt, Senior Project Manager for the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District (CCS&WD), who addressed maintaining camp roads and stormwater runoff, which harm area lakes and waterways.

Huntt offered steps residents can take to maintain private roads and reduce long-term repair costs, as well as how to budget for road maintenance. She recommended the state DEP’s manual on road maintenance, which lists proper procedures for building and maintaining camp roads, as well as a list of state-approved contractors who can work on roads near water.

She also said that staff at the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District office can arrange for their engineer to visit and consult, free of charge, on camp roads.

Raymond Waterways also elected board members during the meeting. Nancy Crilly-Kirk was re-elected to the board and in a later board meeting, was elected President to replace retiring president, Wayne Eckerson; Steve Craine was re-elected as the Environmental Officer, and Russ Hutchinson, President of the Crescent Lake Association was newly elected to the board.

Raymond Waterways is grateful to the Raymond Casco Historical Society for hosting the event, and for Aroma Joe’s for furnishing coffee. To learn more specific information about Raymond’s lake health and RWPA programs visit raymondwaterways.org. <