Bond Brook Stream Team Project
A group of volunteers gathered recently in Augusta to conduct a survey of
Bond Brook, a healthy but seriously threatened urban stream. With the financial
aid of a 319 federal grant to the Kennebec County Soil & Water Conservation
District to assess and fix non-point pollution sources, about twenty attendees
filled the lecture hall at Augusta City Hall to first learn how to complete
Stream Habitat Survey and Rapid Geomorphic Assessment data sheets. Members of
the newly formed Bond Brook Stream Team were treated to a Power Point
presentation by DEP’s Mary Ellen Dennis. Discussions included basic stream
processes, how
they move water and sediment, and what to look for during the field portion of
their surveys. Volunteers learned that such things as fallen trees in a stream
actually are good because they add to the habitat complexity by trapping leaves,
a food supply for aquatic insects. Aquatic insects are an important food
resource for fish. They were also trained to study how much of a stream is
shaded and in what locations, to check stream bank condition, the presence of
barriers, bugs, fish insects and even algae.
Following the presentation, the group divided up into four units to actually
perform the stream survey (led by DEP, IF&W, and Trout Unlimited staff). Two
units, one for upstream exploration and the other for downstream, traveled to a
location on Bond Brook behind the municipal airport. The other two units met at
the brook beyond the ball field. The exact location, as filled in on the survey
form in degrees minutes seconds, is Latitude 44o 19’ 35.6” N and
Longitude 69o 46’ 50.6” W . You can go to this website www.Lat-Long.com
to view a map of the approximate location. Click on Maine and type in Bond Brook
then click on Kennebec County.
After the surveys are completed they will be reviewed and become the baseline
data for planning a long term restoration and protection plan for Bond Brook’s
future. If you would like more information about the Maine Stream Team Program
you can go here http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/docstream/team/streamteam.htm
Note: Photos and text by Bob Demkowicz
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