PROJECT LOCATION:
Goosefare Brook is located in the City of Saco and the Town of Old Orchard Beach. The majority of the watershed, approximately 4,000 acres, is in Saco. Approximately 1,000 acres of the watershed is in Old Orchard Beach. The headwaters, approximately 2,100 acres, are entirely in Saco. The lower reach forms the boundary between Saco and Old Orchard Beach. Goosefare Brook drains directly into Saco Bay roughly midway between Old Orchard Beach and Ferry Beach State Park, two major beaches on the longest recreational sand beach in the State of Maine.
PROBLEM / NEED:
Goosefare Brook is a valuable ecological and environmentally sensitive resource that is threatened by increasing industrial, commercial and residential development and declining water quality. The increasing diversified development of the watershed, without the benefit of a systematic watershed management plan, threatens to continue the degradation, notwithstanding the application of best management practices on new development in the watershed. A management plan is needed to prevent further degradation and restore water quality. Before an effective management plan can be developed, it is necessary to conduct a watershed survey to locate and identify nonpoint pollution sources. This watershed has very diverse land use ranging from heavy industry to undeveloped land. Goosefare Brook flows through a Turnpike interchange, two Turnpike Connector interchanges and the highly developed commercial Route 1 corridor. Its tributary area includes an industrial park. The survey may very well identify sources requiring more extensive study to address NPS pollution problems.
Goosefare Brook discharges through a salt marsh estuary into Saco Bay in one of the prime seaside recreational areas of the state. The IF&W has rated the Goosefare Estuary as a Coastal Wildlife Concentration Area of State significance. Much of the estuary is owned and protected under the auspices of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. It is imperative that water quality be restored, improved and maintained. Goosefare Brook has been identified as providing Essential Wildlife Habitat for Piping Plovers. The lower reach of the brook is a bathing, boating and fishing recreation area. The Maine DEP has identified Goosefare Brook as impaired under Section 303(d) TMDL Waters.
The lower reach of Goosefare Brook forms the boundary between the City of Saco and Old Orchard Beach. In Saco, the watershed consists of approximately 3,875 acres and represents approximately 16 % of Saco's total land area. In Old Orchard Beach the watershed consists of approximately 1,000 acres. The following land uses are found within the Goosefare Brook watershed:
Goosefare Brook watershed is located in the rapidly developing corridor between Portland and Saco. A majority of the industrial, commercial and residential development planned is in this area. It is likely this trend will continue. The development of the commuter rail system, with stations in Portland, South Portland and Saco will add emphasis to this trend. The City of Saco takes a pro-active approach to water quality management. The proposed Goosefare Brook watershed survey will be a key tool in the development of a systematic watershed management plan.
In 1990, the City of Saco authorized an inventory study of infrastructure that included drainage structures and major watershed mapping. A comment in that study is:
"Overall, the drainage system was the sector of the City's infrastructure with the least amount of available data. Since no substantial comprehensive information currently exists, this effort appears to be the first attempt aimed at creating a system wide inventory of the City's drainage system."
Since that study, there has been significant development in the area. There has been no updating of the infrastructure survey, no detailed survey or study of the Goosefare Brook watershed, neither identification of nonpoint pollution sources nor development of any specific systematic plan to mitigate nonpoint source pollution to Goosefare Brook.
With regard to new and proposed development, the City of Saco has adopted a Comprehensive Plan that identifies goals and sets broad methods to achieve those objectives through the application of BMP's and the adoption of ordinances and regulations to enforce those practices. The City also recently adopted a "Stormwater Management Systems" guidelines manual with construction details and specifications. These guidelines are now regulations to be applied to all new development. One of the problems, however, is that existing industrial, commercial and residential development is not addressed with regard to nonpoint pollution abatement. For the most part, it is not even identified or located.
In summary, the problems are:
The need is to perform a watershed survey in Saco and Old Orchard Beach to locate and identify the nonpoint pollution sources in the watershed.
PURPOSE:
This survey will be directed to locate, identify and quantify, where practicable, the nonpoint sources of pollution in the Goosefare Brook watershed and to identify problems for further study beyond the scope of this survey. Goosefare Brook does not meet water quality standards due to nonpoint sources of pollution and is listed on the 303(d) TMDL Waters list. The goal of the survey is to provide data and information for the development and implementation of a watershed management plan and to inform industrial, commercial and residential landowners of recommended actions they can take to correct the problem. Through the adoption of local ordinances, where appropriate, and the application of BMP's on a systematic basis, the goal of restoring and maintaining the water quality of Goosefare Brook can be accomplished.
GENERAL PROJECT PLAN:
It is anticipated that the watershed survey project will commence April 2001 and continue to March 2002.
Owing to the diversified land use, the highly developed nature of the watershed, and the complexity of the NPS anticipated, it is proposed that the City lead and coordinate tasks to a team composed of City personnel, volunteers and a professional consulting firm. The survey data collection will be performed by a combination of all the team personnel. Prior to performing actual field work, research will be conducted to collect and organize available data, such as subdivision and site plans, drainage plans and studies, the infrastructure and drainage basin study, mapping and any other data to supplement and make field work less complex, more meaningful and more effective. Any technical assistance and guidance the MDEP can render to this project will help reduce costs and help produce a more effective end product. A study, the "Ecosystem-level Effects of Roadway Runoff on Headwater Streams in Maine", currently being conducted that includes the Goosfare Brook where it crosses the Maine Turnpike will likely provide valuable data.
Public and private organization assistance will be solicited through news releases and by contacting known supporters of environmental projects. The project will be tasked to enable delegation of various segments under the coordination of the City and Steering Committee's lead.
The long-range goal of this project is to provide the foundation for development and implementation of a comprehensive watershed management plan. This watershed survey will help provide the foundation for that goal and represents a proactive approach by the City to accomplish that goal and follow the recommendations of the City of Saco's Comprehensive Plan. It is probable this study will serve as an example and a catalyst for water quality improvement and preservation in other watersheds.
For purposes of the project survey, the entire Goosefare Brook Watershed within Saco and Old Orchard Beach is included. The watershed is subdivided into the following major sub watershed areas:
To conduct the survey, each of the sub watersheds will be further subdivided into drainage areas and identified. Within each drainage area, nonpoint sources will be located and identified together with any special circumstances that may be encountered. While this survey is not intended to be a drainage study, the conveyance routes of the NPS to the Goosefare Brook will be identified as it relates to the drainage infrastructure of the City and the Town of Old Orchard Beach. The emphasis of the survey will be to resolve and recommend actions to NPS pollution problems on site. However, the potential for mitigating the effect of several nonpoint pollution sources through application of a BMP downstream may prove to be the most practical solution in some urban settings.
