One of the dirtiest streams in Maine is now the focus of a strategy for revitalization.

The South Portland City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday, Sept. 6, to approve a grant for the Long Creek Watershed-Based Plan Project, a 30-month process to develop a long-term plan to improve the creek’s water quality.

“When people think of Long Creek, they think of the Maine Mall, and that’s not all that’s involved with the watershed,” said Tamara Lee Pinard, senior project manager with Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District, who presented the plans for the grant to the city council.

The watershed covers 3.45 square miles. Most of the watershed is in South Portland, but also includes Westbrook and a portion of Portland that contains the jetport.

Long Creek has yet to pass a state Class C, minimum water-quality test. Jeff Varricchione, stream biologist of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said water for biological and chemical tests was collected through 1999 to 2001, and a report finding the creek below Class C standards came out in December 2002.

“This grant proposal has been a work in progress over the last six months with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District,” Pat Cloutier, director of water resource protection for South Portland, said Friday. Cloutier will lead the planning project.

By approving the grant, the watershed-based plan is receiving $117,000 in federal funds, which requires a local match of $84,908. South Portland will pay $10,200 of that match, said Pinard.

The remainder of the funds will be met through donated time. Some of the time will be met with work from staff and volunteers of the involved towns. Stakeholders in the watershed, including Maine Mall businesses, the Sable Oaks Golf Club and the Portland Jetport, will also contribute time through their input during the planning process, said Pinard.

The Department of Environmental Protection has already given approval of the project, so with a signature from the city manager, plans can start, said Pinard the day after the meeting.

Pinard said the first step in planning is to finding a fluvial geomorphologist, a stream technical consultant and a facilitator, a process that will be overseen by Cloutier.

A fluvial geomorphologist is a stream expert, said Pinard, someone who studies the hydrology and the physical makeup of the stream. The consultant will digest the technical information and develop a strategy; they will write the plan, said Pinard. The facilitator will get businesses, cities and other participants together so everyone understands where the project is in the planning process, said Pinard.

After a plan has been developed, the Long Creek watershed will undergo physical changes. These changes will look at improving stormwater treatment systems, habitat enhancement and improvement of water run-off quality, said Don Witherill, division of watershed management director for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Structures in the Long Creek area will undergo retro-fitting to improve the filtration and direction of runoff in the watershed. Witherill mentioned a detention pond in the Maine Mall area that could be altered to improve filtration and its use as a buffer to the creek. Pinard mentioned several parking lots with direct runoffs to the creek. She said changes would need to be made in those areas.

“We want the public involved with this process,” said Pinard.