Abstract or Description
The Sebago Lake watershed supplies drinking water to more than 200,000 people in the Greater Portland area. The Portland Water District (PWD) is currently able to supply water from their intake at the south end of the lake with only minimal treatment to remove bacteria due to the very high water quality of the lake. The district has a strong interest in preserving water quality, which is dependent on the filtering effect of forest and other vegetation surrounding the lake and its watershed. However, the district owns only about 1% of the watershed land, and most of the rest is in private hands, leading to a significant potential for development. I analyze the development potential of land parcels in the town of Standish that are close to the lake and the water district intake using GIS. The model is based on location compared to roads and developed areas, town growth plans and land slope. I further weight the resulting risk of development by how close the parcel is to the lake and PWD intake. This attempts to show areas most likely to cause a decline in water quality through development.
Source Data Note
All data are from the Maine office of GIS and the Town of Standish.
Rights
Full Poster Size: 42 x 34 in.
Recommended Citation
Ravenelle, Jeremy P. "Land Development Risk around Southern Sebago Lake, Maine: Identifying at-Risk Parcels," Atlas of Maine: Vol. 2016: No. 2, Article 5.Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/atlas_docs/vol2016/iss2/5