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In Maine, water quality constantly changes, from season to season and from year to year. Long-term trends are sometimes difficult to distinguish from short-term fluctuations. Under many circumstances it is difficult to tell if conditions are getting better or worse because monitoring data may be insufficient or inaccurate.
While land use is not the sole predictor of water quality, understanding how open space can affect the quality of water should play an important role in making land use decisions. The natural features provided by open space are critical because they protect the wilderness landscape that make Maine unique as a boreal forest. Geology, soils, vegetation and land management practices also provide a direct correlation to water quality and will often affect aquatic organisms, wildlife, and human health. In southern Maine and along the coast, paved urban areas increase the intensity of storm-water runoff that picks up pollutants from parking lots and raises the water temperature before dumping into local rivers and streams. Trash, toxic waste, and often-untreated sewage are known byproducts of urbanization that result in pollution that degrades water quality.
Protecting open space, on the other hand, is a cost-effective strategy that reduces pollution, helps to recharge local aquifers, and eliminates many of the problems caused by the intrusion of man into the landscape. The natural conditions provided by open space and streamside forests reduce the sediments from surface runoff. By limiting the nutrient loading of small streams and shallow aquifers, open space helps to ameliorate the effects of animal waste, agricultural fertilizers and pesticides. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus increases the growth of algae in ponds, depletes oxygen, and will kill fish. A high nitrogen level in drinking water may cause less oxygen availability for the brain and can be dangerous to children and certain groups of people.
Open space enhances the natural biological cycle, helping to convert manure and fertilizer into essential nutrients necessary for plant growth. Healthy vegetation along rivers and streams acts as a transformer that protects water quality throughout the watershed. Streamside forests act as a sink by storing these converted nutrients until they are needed for plant growth, something a parking lot is not capable of. Forest canopies within watersheds affect the seasonal variations of water temperature by moderating the hot summer sun that can kill fish and other aquatic life. Open space is critical to preserving the instream flow of rivers and streams, especially those having species which require a minimum amount of water to survive.
Biological diversity is an integral component in all watersheds and it is an important protection for threatened and endangered species. There is a high correlation between development and adverse impacts within a watershed. As urban areas expand into rural landscapes, so do the impacts, including loss of important wildlife habitat, aquatic organisms, macro-invertebrates, and destruction of wetlands. Sprawl from development contributes significantly to the reduction of biodiversity and loss of species.
There are social and economic impacts to sprawl that slowly creep into communities that have not taken steps to implement good planning. Suddenly, traffic congestion, pollution, and fragmentation of the landscape become the norm in the name of progress before anyone notices what is happening. Sound planning for open space often means making hard political choices as residents must decide what is best for their communities, because where you live should be more than just a place to go when you are not working. Planning should mean understanding what resources need protection, where growth should occur, and how growth should be balanced to protect all of the community's interests. Open spaces within communities are important because they provide a sense of “place”, protect water supplies, and reduce the cost of municipal services demanded by uncontrolled growth.
| Want to know more? Check out these clean river resources... | |||
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 | American Whitewater is a leading boaters-rights advocacy organization. Visit them online at: www.americanwhitewater.org | Maine Rivers’ mission is to protect, restore and enhance the health and vitality of Maine's Rivers. www.mainerivers.org | River Network is a national leader in supporting grassroots river and watershed conservation groups. www.rivernetwork.org | RiverSmart is a national public education campaign helping Americans understand how daily water usage affects rivers. www.riversmart.org www.riversmart.org |
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