We share the Knickerbocker Lake Association’s concerns over water quality in Knickerbocker Lake and all the lakes and streams in our community. Knickerbocker Lake is a fairly small, shallow lake. The state Department of Environmental Protection rates its water quality as moderate to sensitive -- an “average” though conservative rating it gives to 85 percent of the 1,100 lakes it monitors in the state. In 2008 it became part of the regional reservoir system and currently the Boothbay Region Water District draws about 51 million gallons, or 10 percent of its volume primarily for seasonal water service to homes and businesses as well as for fire protection. In its 2015 report on the lake, the water district acknowledges that the lake is at moderate risk from non-point source pollutants and puts forward a plan to mitigate these sources. The pollutant of most concern is phosphorus that enters the lake primarily on sediments washed from impervious surfaces such as roads, roofs, lawns and driveways by stormwater. Phosphorus causes algae blooms and thus reduces water quality and clarity. In the 2015 report, BRWD lists town and private roads – especially Back River Road -- as the primary source of phosphorus pollution followed by lakefront residences and then beach access points such as the districts own gravel road and pump station. Properly designed and maintained septic systems located at least 250 feet from the shore do not produce measurable phosphorus pollution. Nowhere in the report is CMBG listed as a source of pollution and in fact only a small fraction of our current development is within the watershed.

Because CMBG’s original development was over a certain size threshold, we operate under a Maine Department of Environmental Protection Site Permit. Any construction on our site -- even the installation of a small garden shed -- requires DEP approval and our permit must be renewed every five years. Because of this, we are required to meet standards for phosphorus discharge and stormwater that are many times stricter than just about all other development in the watershed. We are spending over 1 million dollars on state-of-the-art water treatment systems because we want to not only meet but even exceed (reduce phosphorus even further) the standard so as to be a model for best practices others can adopt. Our project is designed to retain and treat stormwater in order to limit phosphorus discharge to 1 teaspoon per year per acre. To put that into perspective, a 3 bedroom lake cottage with a half acre of lawn and a driveway contributes ten times as much and Back River Road contributes 50 times as much phosphorus pollution per acre per year. They can get away with this because small developments and municipal projects in the watershed are essentially unregulated as far as phosphorus goes. Frankly, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for existing and future residential development near the lake to come close to the teaspoon per acre standard CMBG has designed our project to meet.

There has been discussion between CMBG and BRWD regarding the feasibility of running water and sewer to CMBG. At a cost of over 4 million dollars, it is simply too expensive for us as a non-profit to undertake. Our more cost-effective septic system will be located a minimum of a half mile from the lake and produce wastewater equivalent to just several single family homes. There is virtually no chance that the system will cause pollution in the lake. CMBG has its own self-charging aquifer under the property and we feel it is far more sustainable to draw water from that directly through wells than to spend millions installing water pipe just so we can contribute to the further drawdown of the lake.

CMBG welcomes the opportunity to work with the Knickerbocker Lake Association and the Water District to find fair, effective and cost saving methods that will keep our lakes clean.

—Bill Cullina, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens