At Tuesday’s Standish Town Council meeting, Paul Hunt, environmental manager of the Portland Water District, presented a two-part workshop. Part one compared the PWD’s watershed protection to that of water districts in other areas of New England. Part two focused on the PWD’s Land Use Policy.

Hunt compared the various policies enforced in watershed areas for districts in Providence, RI; Manchester, NH; York, ME; Boston, MA; and Burlington, VT to those of the Portland district. His statistics, gathered mostly from site visits, indicated that the PWD, which owns 2,500 acres of Sebago watershed, holds less than one percent of the total watershed area; far less than the other districts in the comparison.

He also compared the use-restriction policies of the various districts, highlighting that some water districts prohibit all on-lake activity.

Hunt concluded the first part of his presentation by evaluating the water quality of Sebago Lake as it compares to the quality of the other lakes in the study and, specifically, to the quality of water in Lake Champlain, which provides water to Burlington, Vermont. He cited Sebago’s pristine water, attributing its purity to the shape of the watershed, the amount of forested watershed area, and the depth of the lake.

After a period of questions and answers, Hunt presented the details of the District’s new Land Use Policy. Adopted last fall, the policy is currently being implemented throughout the area owned by the PWD.

Hunt explained that, of the 2,500 acres of watershed property they own, 800 acres are completely off-limits to the public.

“Water quality in Lower Bay is consistently a notch above the rest of the lake,” said Hunt. In order to maintain its high quality, the PWD must enforce the no-trespassing law.

But, under the Land Use Policy, the other 1,700 acres, are accessible to the public, by permit, for certain specified activities.

The permits, which will be self-issued, will be available at 10 kiosks, located in various places throughout the land reserve. Annual permits will be issued to homeowners who live next to PWD property.

Many activities are permitted under the policy, including hunting, fishing, trapping, group environmental activities, hiking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, and snowmobiling. An agreement is being finalized that would also permit special access for shore fishing, requested by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Hunt acknowledged that the top goals of the Land Use Policy “are and must continue to be” to protect water quality and enhance security. To this end, they have hired watershed security officer Rod Beaulieu to patrol the area daily, checking permit boxes at the kiosks, checking license plate numbers, and talking with visitors.

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