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PRC
Section 319
NONPOINI SOURCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STURY
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Watershed Conservation Practices Restore Duckpuddle Pond
Waterbody improved
Erosion and runoff from roads and a dairy farm contributed exces-
sive phosphorus and sediment to Maine's Duckpuddle Pond, which
sometimes experienced severe nuisance algal blooms as a result. In 1990 the decreased water clarity
and low dissolved oxygen of the pond prompted the Maine Department of Environmental Protection
(MDEP) to add it to the state's CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Between 1999 and 2010,
the Knox-Lincoln County Soil and Water Conservation District (KLSWCD) helped the dairy farm to
implement best management practices (BMPs) and worked with local towns and organizations to
upgrade roadside ditches and culverts. These efforts significantly reduced nonpoint source pollution.
Duckpuddle Pond now meets applicable water quality standards, prompting MDEP to remove it from
the state's list of impaired waters in 2010.
Problem
Duckpuddle Pond (242 acres) is on the border
between the towns of Nobleboro and Waldoboro
in Lincoln County. The pond captures drainage
from an 8.5-square-mile area in the Pemaquid
River watershed, near Maine's southern coast. The
watershed is mostly forested with interspersed
agricultural and rural land uses. Developed areas
constitute approximately 14 percent of the water-
shed. The shoreline is sparsely developed and has
several large, undisturbed shorefront areas.
Historically, stormwater runoff carried excessive
amounts of phosphorus to Duckpuddle Pond,
causing nuisance algal blooms (Figure 1). As a
result, in 1990 MDEP placed the pond on the state's
impaired waters list because of recurring nuisance
algal blooms and increasing trophic state (increased
biological productivity). In 1995 the Pemaquid
Watershed Association and MDEP completed a
watershed survey, which identified 55 priority pol-
luted runoff sites in the watershed.
In 2005 MDEP developed a total maximum daily
load (TMDL) for phosphorus in Duckpuddle Pond.
In the TMDL report, MDEP estimated that the
total phosphorus (TP) export, by land use, was
38 percent from agricultural areas, 30 percent from
non-shoreline development (roads and low-density
residential), 24 percent from non-developed land,
6 percent from atmospheric deposition, and 2 per-
cent from shoreline development. The TMDL set
the pond's assimilative capacity at 335 kilograms
TP per year (kg/yr) to meet a target of 16 parts per
billion (ppb) TP. According to the TMDL, annual
phosphorus loading needed to be reduced by
about 136 kg/year (a 29 percent reduction) to allow
Figure 1. Elevated phosphorus levels in Duckpuddle Pond
caused nuisance algal blooms.
Duckpuddle Pond to: comply with Maine's Class GPA
water quality standards. (Class GPA applies to all
lakes except man-made ponds less than 30 acres.)
The TMDL report recommended implementing
numerous actions that could reduce nuisance algal
blooms and restore the pond
Project Highlights
From 2000 to 2004, KLSWCD implemented the first
of two CWA section 319-funded projects to reduce
sediment and phosphorus inflows to Duckpuddle
Pond. KLSWCD and staff from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) worked with the Spear Farm, a dairy
and vegetable producer, to improve management of
manure, milk house wastewater, silage and cropping

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practices. Spear Farm enlarged its manure storage
capacity from one to six months to enabie over-
winter storage. In addition, the farmer directed milk
house wastewater into a manure storage pit.
KLSWCD also worked with local municipalities and
other organizations to reduce erosion along roads.
The Town of Waldoboro installed cross-drainage
culverts and riprap ditch linings (to distribute runoff
more evenly through buffers), upgraded roads, and
repaired a failing stream crossing. The Town of
Nobleboro installed five new culverts with inlet/out-
let protection to help stabilize ditches on two roads.
Road maintenance provisions were established to
ensure long-term effectiveness. The Cramer Road
Association stabilized a road ditch, installed ditch
turnouts, and replaced a failing culvert at a stream
crossing.
From 2008 to 2010, KLSWCD implemented the
second CWA section 319 project to reduce polluted
runoff from the farm's livestock feeding areas and a
silage bunker. The farmer constructed a heavy-use
iivestock area (a 2,200 square-foot concrete pad)
to separate clean water from contaminated water
and manure (Figure 2). Manure that accumulates in
the heavy-use area is moved to the existing manure
storage pit. Any contaminated water running off
the heavy-use area is directed through a 45-foot
level-lip spreader into a vegetated wastewater filter
strip for treatment. Improvements constructed
at the existing silage
bunker area reduced
the volume and pro-
vided treatment of silage
runoff and leachate.
Clean stormwater runoff
was diverted away from
the silage bunker area.
In addition, the farm's
nutrient management
plan was improved,
which helped the farmer
to manage nutrients and
control erosion and sedi-
ment export.
Figure 2. A heavy-use livestock
area allows for improved manure
management.
Results
Water quality has improved. Duckpuddle Pond now
meets Maine's Class GPA water quality standard,
which requires the lake to have a stable or improv-
ing trophic state and to have been free of culturally
Annual Minimum Secchi Disk Transparency
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00 00C^CTnOn0n0sC^C^OsOsC^O'O''
On On On On On On On On On On On On O O O O <0 O 0> O CD  •
X 1.0
a i.s
2.0
2.5
3.0
i Algae Bloom Threshold
Figure 3. Duckpuddle Pond Annual
Transparency Data (1988-2010)
linimum Secchi Disk
induced alga! blooms for at least six of the last
10 years (Figure 3). Algal blooms are considered to
have occurred when the Secchi disk transparency
falls below 2.0 meters.
Restoration project efforts reduced pollutant
loading by an estimated 248 tons of sediment
and 700 pounds of phosphorus peryear. Because
Duckpuddle Pond had been free of culturally
induced algal blooms for seven of the last 10 years,
Maine DEP removed it from the state's CWA sec-
tion 303(d) list in 2010.
Partners and Funding
Key project partners included KLSWCD,
NRCS, Spear Farm, the towns of Waldoboro
and Nobleboro, Cramer Road Association,
Pemaquid Watershed Association, Maine
Department of Agriculture (MDOA), MDEP, and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA
provided $154,687 in CWA section 319 funds
($128,043 in Phase 1 and $26,644 in Phase 2);
MDOA provided $20,000. Local match totaled
$99,425, including a significant contribution from
Spear Farm. KLSWCD coordinated the project, and
NRCS provided landowner assistance and techni-
cal services for BMP design, construction and
maintenance.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-11-001HH
September 2011
For additional information contact:
Norm Marcotte
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
207-287-7727 • norm.g.marcotte@maine.gov

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