A recent volunteer watershed survey on Parker Pond in Casco and Pleasant Lake on the border of Casco and Otisfield has revealed oxygen depletion in the lower levels of the two bodies of water.

The survey was a joint project between the Pleasant Lake-Parker Pond Association, the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Water quality monitoring found that bottom waters in Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond are experiencing oxygen depletion that has the potential to severely stress the cold water fishery and create conditions where phosphorus recycling from bottom sediment can occur. In observations at other Maine lakes, this trend has signaled a decline in water quality.

Through the survey, 19 volunteers from around the lake and pond, along with technical experts from local agencies documented sites where polluted runoff occurs. The volunteers were trained and divided into teams to survey seven sectors on Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond.

The teams, with their technical leaders, identified a total of 64 sites where polluted runoff occurs. The information gathered from the teams was then verified by technical experts and is being compiled into a watershed survey report that will provide recommendations to reduce or eliminate the pollution sources. The report and findings will be presented to the town councils and select boards within the watersheds.

Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond are recreational gems for thousands of residents and visitors to Southwestern Maine. The survey focused not only on the lakeshore but also on the entire watershed. A watershed is the land that drains to a lake by surface runoff, tributary streams, springs and groundwater recharge.

The Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond Watershed covers 5.64 and 1.06 square miles respectively in the towns of Casco and Otisfield.