In 2004, community members interested in protecting and improving the water quality of lakes and streams that lie within the Ossipee and Salmon Falls watersheds, formed the Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance.
The current membership is made up of both community residents and seasonal owners of property at area lakes, including Balch, Belleau, Great East, Horne Pond, Lovell, Pine River Pond, and Wilson.
The mission of AWWA is to preserve or restore the water quality in these watersheds by raising awareness of the problems of erosion and it's effect on water quality and correcting erosion problems.
In the summer of 2005, AWWA hired two local youth and worked with two Maine Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) to complete two demonstration projects.
The first on Great East Lake stabilized a path that had been eroding into the lake over the years. The YCC put in steps that stabilized the slope and redirected runoff from both the stairs and from the roofline into planted and mulched areas where it could be absorbed. They also put in and mulched a meandering path to the lake and planted bushes along it.
A second project on Pine River Pond prevented road water runoff from washing sand, soil and other pollutants into the lake. A berm was built and planted with bushes along the roadside to stop and absorb the water coming from the road. Stepping stone walkways were installed and the entire area, except for a narrow perched beach, was mulched and planted with ground cover to prevent runoff.
Both of these projects demonstrated that erosion could be stopped in an environmentally friendly manner that also beautifies the property.
