Crooked River Watershed
Conserving Forests for Clean Water
Why Is It a Focus Area?
The Crooked River has been given Maine’s highest water quality rating for flowing waters and is Sebago Lake’s largest tributary. Conserved forest lands near and along the Crooked play a critical role providing spawning and nursery habitat for Sebago Lake’s landlocked salmon, Maine’s most iconic freshwater fish.
Trout and salmon, key indicators of a healthy and resilient watershed, are especially vulnerable to climate change because they are dependent on an abundance of clear, cold water. This watershed will be key in offering refugia for climate-sensitive species under projected temperature changes.
In addition, the protected forest naturally filters rain and snow before they reach Sebago Lake, the water source for 219,000 people in greater Portland.
Who Made This Happen?
An exciting partnership makes these projects possible - Sebago Clean Waters (SCW), a collaborative united by a vision of the holistic well-being of the watershed and its communities.
SCW members include MLT and: Portland Water District, The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, Lakes Environmental Association, Loon Echo Land Trust, Highstead, Open Space Institute, Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, Western Foothills Land Trust, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership.
We also work extensively with The Conservation Fund, the White Mountain National Forest, and Northeast Wilderness Trust in this focus area.
What Is The Goal?
We’re working with our partners to keep 75% of the watershed forested, because below that level drinking water quality will decline. The watershed is 84% forested, but only less than 1/5th is currently conserved.
Our collaborative is protecting 25 percent (35,000 acres) of the Sebago Lake watershed in the next 15 years. Mahoosuc Land Trust and Sebago Clean Waters staff begin with spatial analysis to zero in on the lands in this geography with the highest values for watershed protection and biological diversity, and look for other community benefits like recreational potential.
We then reach out to potential landowners and partners to explore the feasibility of acquiring candidate properties for conservation.