Our Mission
To protect and improve the 28 lakes and streams of the Cobbossee Watershed.

Our Objectives
• Promote public awareness of water quality issues.
• Educate the public about strategies to protect water quality.
• Enlist citizen, community and municipal involvement.
• Support initiatives by agencies and related lake associations benefiting the Cobbossee Watershed.
• Conduct programs and projects to achieve our goals.

The Cobbossee Watershed has 28 lakes and streams within its 217-square mile area - beginning at Torsey Lake in Mount Vernon and ending in the Gardiner portion of Cobbossee Stream. Other bodies of water that make up the Cobbossee Watershed are:
Annabessacook Lake
Apple Valley Lake
Berry Pond
Brainard Pond
Buker Pond
Carlton Pond
Cobbosseecontee Lake
Cochnewagon Pond
Desert Pond
Horseshoe Pond
Hutchinson Pond
Jamies Pond
Jimmy Pond
Kezar Pond
Little Cobbossee Lake
Little Purgatory Pond
Loon Pond
Lower Narrows Pond
Maranacook Lake
Mill Pond
Pleasant Pond
Sand Pond
Shed Pond
Upper Narrows Pond
Wilson Pond
Woodbury Pond

Our efforts continue to focus on two separate, yet equally significant, threats facing the Cobbossee Watershed:

1. Non-Point Source (NPS) Pollution – When water enters our lakes and streams through the groundwater tables, proper filtering occurs and clean water results. When nature’s natural filtering system is impaired (natural erosion, cut trees, cleared lots, poorly maintained roads), phosphorous and other nutrients run on top of the ground surface and enter the water directly. Left unchecked, the waters essentially become “fertilized” to the point that ugly green algae blooms result. This “cultural pollution” has been around for a long time and will take a long time to fix – but we all need to be aware of what causes NPS and continue efforts to reduce run-off. Our SLOW THE FLOW and LAKESMART - START!  programs have been designed to help counter the effects of soil erosion and run-off.

To learn more about NPS pollution click here to visit the Maine Department of Environmental Protection NPS page.

2. Invasive Aquatic Plants (IAP)
Unfortunately, Milfoil and Hydrilla are two words that are being heard more and more in our state. Although Maine has largely been spared the devastating effects that are prevalent in many other areas of the country, dozens of Maine’s fresh water bodies contain one of “Maine’s Eleven Unwanted” invasive aquatic plant, including our own Pleasant Pond and Cobbossee Stream (variable-leaf milfoil.)  This  “biological pollution” threat is real…. and immediate!  Eurasian Water-Milfoil, the most aggressive of all milfoils, was discovered in 2004 in a Scarborough gravel quarry – currently it has infested over 500 lakes in New England alone!  Hydrilla, considered to be the most destructive of all invasive plants, was discovered in Pickerel Pond in Limerick during the fall of 2002. There is no known cure for eradication of these type plants once they enter a water body!

Our MIL-FOILER program consists of various strategies to deal with menaces - you can help!

To learn more about the destructive nature of INVASIVE AQUATIC PLANTS, click here to visit the Maine Center for Invasive Aquatic Plants.