Members of the Watchic Lake Association regularly check for invasive plants when they are out on the lake (many are Maine certified). Recently a volunteer spotted something concerning. They took a sample and sent it off for analysis by the Water Resource Specialist at Portland Water District. From the Water Resource Specialist: “The plant you brought in yesterday is called “Sago Pondweed.”  It’s not considered a rare plant but it certainly isn’t common either.  I had to get out the books
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Tom Atwell has been writing the Maine Gardener column at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram since 2004. He recently did a nice article on the responsibilities we all have when owning lakefront property. Much of Tom’s information has be mentioned in some form on this website in the past. However, its great to see these ideas and others reinforced by a respected reporter outside the Watchic Lake community. The full article is included here and can be access via
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The Portland Water District is dedicated to helping all of us better maintain our lakefront property and thus the quality of our lakes. They remind us that vegetated buffers of trees, shrubs and groundcover plants catch sediment and other pollution before it reaches lakes or streams. Trees and shrubs intercept raindrops and reduce their impact on the soil. Low growing plants and the “duff” layer on the ground filter runoff. Root systems hold soil in place and absorb water and nutrients. In
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We are fortunate to have a pair of loon families on the lake. However, we recently learned that we’ve lost one of the island loon juveniles. This was discovered by a resident returning to their camp for Labor Day. The Maine Center for Loon Conservation has been contacted about the dead loon and had no further insight to offer on how it died. The last time both the young island loons were seen was on Sunday morning 8/24. Both were
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