None The Nature Conservancy in Maine Press Releases Search All Press Releases Margaret Pizer The Nature Conservancy (207) 729-5181 mpizer@tnc.org

Maine Enacts Legislation to Protect Streamflow

New science-based standards will maintain seasonal flows

AUGUSTA, MAINE — July 5, 2007 — With over 6,000 lakes, one wouldn’t think a state like Maine would be very concerned about water resources. But when agriculture, industry and cities all compete for limited freshwater resources, the losers are often rivers, lakes and streams and the ecosystems they support.

California and other western states have struggled with these problems for decades, but recently water conflicts have come east. For example, Florida, Georgia and Alabama are embroiled in a controversy over the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin—a fight that pits the

Recent droughts up and down the East Coast have heightened concern about water availability, spurring seemingly water-rich states like Maine to protect their abundant freshwater resources before demands on them become too high. The Maine Legislature has approved streamflow protection that Conservancy scientists believe anticipates and accounts for many of the demands on Maine’s freshwater resources—including municipal water supplies, agriculture and tourism—while protecting a natural flow regime that safeguards Maine’s freshwater ecosystems.

“The Conservancy is working in about 20 states to implement science-based streamflow protection and water withdrawal policies” says Mark P. Smith of the Conservancy’s Eastern Region Freshwater Program. “Maine’s new regulation is one of the first to comprehensively incorporate the methods Conservancy scientists have developed and supported for determining how much flow must be maintained to protect river ecosystems.”

The regulation requires that water withdrawals from streams or lakes avoid compromising natural flow variability or endangering freshwater organisms or their habitats. The rule takes into consideration seasonal changes in the requirements of plants and animals that live in streams and lakes and attempts to ensure that there is enough water for them to carry out their natural patterns of movement, growth and reproduction. For example, alewives or other migratory fish may require certain seasonal high flows in order to locate spawning areas and swim upstream past man-made or natural barriers such as dams or rapids. Maine’s regulations take those seasonal requirements into account when determining how much water can be taken out of streams and when.

But this step forward for protecting Maine’s freshwater resources did not come easily. Talk about the need for more comprehensive freshwater management began in the mid 1990’s after dry weather and large water withdrawals left some Maine lakes and streams dangerously low. By the early 2000’s, Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began reaching out to the primary water users in the state—public utilities, agriculture, and recreational industries like ski resorts and golf courses that use water to make snow and irrigate greens.

“Many water users were opposed to more regulation at the beginning but found that the rule’s natural flow regime could be protected while providing an adequate supply of water for all uses,” says Dave Courtemanch, the DEP’s Director of Environmental Assessment and a former trustee of the Conservancy in Maine. “Brian Richter from the Sustainable Waters Program and other Conservancy scientists were instrumental in explaining what a new regulation might look like and getting people comfortable with the science behind the rules.”

After years of negotiation, education and compromise, Maine has arrived at a regulation that conservation groups and water users can both support. Although the particular demands on freshwater resources vary from state to state, elements of the Maine model—including its methods for considering seasonal variation in water flow and demand—make it a groundbreaking accomplishment that could help other states and regions establish similar scientifically based water protection guidelines.

“Maine is fortunate to have outstanding freshwater resources,” says Josh Royte, Conservation Planner for the Conservancy in Maine. “The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is applying sound ecological principles and fair strategies to protecting this common resource now, before human demands on freshwater reach a crisis level in our state. The Conservancy’s freshwater team was instrumental in supporting us and DEP staff throughout the process of developing the new regulation and winning support for it in the legislature.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.