Maine Lake Watch of Gardiner, ME We will assume that the devastation caused by higher minimum lake levels over the past 20 years will be one of the main topics covered by these speakers. Our lakes no longer serve as reservoirs to protect our environment from rain and wind events.

These high lake levels have caused tremendous erosion falling trees and everything in its path including destroying our wetlands. Maine's thousands of miles of natural sand beaches have been destroyed and floating islands of our wetlands drift down our lakes.

Lake associations are great if they serve to truly encourage good lake management. Demeaning and degrading lake shore owners for the sole purpose of covering up water degradation caused by the State is not good management. It is silly and destructive.

Last year the Governor declared Maine Beach Day to celebrate Maine Beaches. Unfortunately it had to be celebrated at a Sebago Resort that had to haul in 40 truckloads of sand in order to have a beach to celebrate. But oh my goodness......that resort must have friends in high places because the little folks are not allowed to replenish what the State has destroyed.

Only rich out of State vacationer's are allowed to enjoy a Maine Beach at a fancy resort....Maine children can scrape some rip rap.report abuse

Roger Wheeler of Fryeburg, ME This is good that much attention is brought to the importance of healthy lakes. A great step forward to help our lakes would be to understand and educate about the degradation of water quality caused by unnatural water level regulation. In the 1970's lake organizations across Maine successfully lobbied the legislature for laws to keep many of Maine lakes more constantly high throughout the year. Their constituents then did not have to move docks when water levels dropped into the late summer and fall. Boating interests could expand into shallow areas. Everyone believed the solutiion to pollution was dilution. Instead filtering lake wetlands degraded into bogs where organic matter never dries out, oxidizes and safely dessicates and protective sands are eroded away by wave action leaving soils and clays to enter the lake water column. If lakes are lowered rapidly from full in November the nearshore lake bottom ecosystem is highly stressed
from this rapid exposure to freezing temperatures.
The lack of storage capacity in many of our lakes
created by the lake associations lake level laws
also creates a dangerous flood potential problem.
China Lake water quality catastrophically crashed because of the constant high water level since its water level management was changed in the 1970's. Sebago Lake's water clarity is dropping on average 3 inches a year in the big Bay and worse in other bays since 1990 soon after the more natural seasonal cycle water levels were disbanded
for unnaturally higher levels that benefitted marinas, Point Sebago, and SD Warren hydropower. Once again shoreline erosion and wetland degradation are the maine culprit. Tributary lakes
above Sebago have maintained water quality since that time or improved slightly. Websites to explain further can be had by searching the words
"Sebago Lake beach erosion" .report abuse