The Portland Water District

Portland Water District Logo

Background on the Portland Water District

The people living near Portland, ME relied on private water wells to source their water for a long time. However, there was fear that the wells would not be sufficient for domestic use and fire protection with the growing population. This concern materialized when a major fire burned out of control in downtown Portland and marshalled interest for a more robust water system. In response, the first water service in Portland began in 1869 with water sourced from Sebago Lake. In 1908, the Portland Water District (PWD) joined several smaller water companies to serve the greater Portland area.

The Portland Water District has continued to source its water from Sebago Lake, one of the cleanest water supplies in the United States. Sebago is the second largest lake in Maine, covering 28,771 acres and currently holds enough water to meet demands for about 100 years (The Nature Conservancy). The lake is one of fifty U.S. water sources that is exempt from filtration, which saves PWD millions in equipment they don’t need to purchase or maintain. Thus, it is critical to those at PWD and those who get water from Sebago to maintain the lakes’ high quality water.

The naturally forested land that makes up Sebago Lake’s watershed serves as a natural filtration system, making the forest a key focus for those at the Portland Water District. To help maintain this critical forested land, Sebago Clean Waters (SWC) was formed as a financial vehicle interested in forest conservation. SWC is composed of many different organizations who all have an interest in protecting the water quality or forest area and includes the Portland Water District, The Nature Conservatory, business, and NGO’s.

“By Maine’s standards, it's a gigantic lake which is good news for us because we have plenty of water” - Paul Hunt

Past, Current, and Future for Portland Water

PWD currently provides water to many areas in and around Portland, ME including Standish, Westbrook, Falmouth, Cumberland, Raymond, Scarborough, and Cape Elizabeth.

There are a few key pieces of legislation that fundamentally changed the water practices such as the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972, which regulated wastewater discharge and surface water quality, and the Safe Water Drinking Act (SWDA) in 1974, which regulated drinking water quality (Hoyle). Additionally, a 1996 amendment to the SDWA which “will evaluate each of the 2600 public water supply sources, assess for each the likelihood of contamination by existing or future activities, and make the results of these studies widely available to the public” (Maine Department of Human Services Drinking Water Program).

The 2003 SWAP conducted on Sebago classified the lake as “oligotrophic, which suggests minimal nutrient enrichment from the watershed area. The data show that the lake has low phosphorus and bacteria counts, high dissolved oxygen concentration and good clarity” (Maine Department of Human Services Drinking Water Program). While the quality of Sebago has been and currently is very good, it is classified as moderate risk for contamination because of the potential impact posed by human activities such as waste and chemical storage, housing development, and waterfront recreation activities.

Sebago Lake area near water pump station inlet

The Portland Water District is aware of this contamination risk and has devoted much effort to protecting the future of Sebago’s water quality by investing in forest conservation. Beginning in 2000, PWD has worked with local organizations to conserve the forested watershed. In 2017, a coalition that includes the Portland Water District, The Nature Conservatory, businesses, and NGOs formed over the shared interest of preserving the natural infrastructure around Sebago. As of now, about $8 million has been invested in conserving 14,400 acres (Sebago Clean Waters). As significant as this is, it only represents about 10% of Sebago Lake’s forest meaning that while the future of Portland’s water security does look promising, it is not guaranteed.

Additionally, PWD has invested in state-of-the-art treatment facilities. Our team had the opportunity to tour the water treatment plant and were surprised to see how robust the system is. For each piece of equipment in use, there is at least one more ready to use in case of malfunction. While this initially seemed a bit excessive, the PWD staff encouraged us to imagine what would happen if the treatment facility stopped working for a day, or even a week. It's simply not an option. Additionally, Hunt shared that the treatment facility recently chose between making an investment in technology to help improve the water quality or keeping the current system that has been working, but that produces a higher concentration of a specific contaminant. They chose to make the investment, which demonstrates both their devotion to the customers they serve and to the future health of the treatment system.

Sebago Lake watershed conserved land

Communicating With Stakeholders

Sebago is in a unique position because virtually none of its customers live in the lake’s watershed. One would think that this would make conversations around maintaining the lake’s pristine quality more difficult. However, there seems to be an environmental ethic for most people in Maine meaning that people feel an obligation to act in ways that are generally friendly to the environment, and actions towards Sebago Lake are no different (Richardson). In the end, protecting the forested area and Sebago’s water quality is in everyone's best interest, and people seem to understand this.

Something we appreciated when speaking to the PWD staff was how they explained things in a way that the technical content could be understood by just about anybody. When communicating to the general public, it is normally not necessary to convey all the specific quantitative information so long as the main ideas are getting across. The below quote does this very well and is a great example of why PWD has been able to build and maintain positive relationships with the Portland community. They are being reasonable, communicating what matters, and listening to the feedback they receive. Of course, it is also hard to argue against work centered around providing clean drinking water and maintaining the natural environment.

"We're in it together, there is no way we can have clean lakes in front of your house and a dirty lake downstream. So whatever we’re talking about for Sebago Lake means the same for you” - Paul Hunt

Aerial view of Sebago Lake

Summary

The metropolitan Portland area is very fortunate to have a water source of such high quality and large magnitude. Sebago Lake's quality is supported by the heavily forested watershed that provides natural filtration. However, there is potential future contamination from human activities along the lake and development of the watershed, which is a driving force behind the desire to conserve much of the forested watershed. Additionally, the positive relationship that Portland Water District has with consumers and watershed residents has helped them maintain high water quality and continue conservation efforts.

References

Graham, Gillian. "Exactly 150 years after Sebago Lake water arrived in Portland, focus is till on keeping it clean." Press Harold, 27 Nov. 2019, https://www.pressherald.com/2019/11/27/150-years-after-sebago-lake-water-arrived-in-portland-region-focuses-on-keeping-it-clean/.

Hoyle, J.. "The Crooked River Watershed, Sebago Lake, and the Drinking Water Supply for the City of Portland, Maine." 2013, 10.1201/b14086.

Hunt, Paul. Personal Interview. 16 March 2023.

Lewis, Carrie. "Annual Water Quality Report." Portland Water District, 2021, https://www.pwd.org/sites/default/files/2021_annual_water_report_web.pdf.

Maine Department of Human Services Drinking Water Program. "Maine Public Drinking Water Source Water Assessment Program." Source Water Assessment Program Citizens and Technical Advisory Committee, Jan. 2000, https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/environmental-health/dwp/wrt/documents/swapforweb.pdf.

Ness, Kirsten. Personal Interview. 16 March 2023.

Portland Water District. 2023, https://www.pwd.org/.

Portland Water District. "Forever Forests for Sebago Lake." Portland Water District, 7 April 2022, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bbf4141bf8fb4ce4b36b197471432aab.

Richardson, Marybeth. Personal Interview. 13 March 2023.

Sargent, Jessica. "Sebago Source Protection: Collaboration, Conservation & Co-Investment in a Drinking Water Supply." Lincoln Institute of Public Policy, June 2022, https://wildlandsandwoodlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Sebago-Clean-Waters-case-profile-July-2022.pdf.

Sebago Clean Waters. 2023, https://www.sebagocleanwaters.org/.

The Nature Conservancy. "Protecting Clean Water, Naturally." The Nature Conservancy, 29 May 2020. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/maine/stories-in-maine/forests-protect-sebago-drinking-water/.

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