JAY – Selectmen heard about a need Monday to establish a long-range plan to protect Parker Pond, a drinking water source for customers in Jay and Livermore Falls.
Maine Rural Water Association’s Susan Breau, protection source water program manager, told selectmen she is working with stakeholders from both towns to help the community develop and implement a source water protection plan for Parker Pond to reduce or eliminate potential risks to the water supply.
The intent is to protect public health while protecting the rights and needs of residents, she said.
“You folks have time to plan around your drinking water source,” Breau told selectmen.
The Livermore Falls Water District provides water to the Jay Village Water District. The districts serve about 3,000 people in both towns.
Moose Hill Pond in Livermore Falls is the primary supply of water for the districts and Parker Pond is a supplemental source.
Livermore Falls Water District Superintendent Doug Burdo said that Moose Hill Pond’s safe yield is 500,000 gallons a day and Parker Pond’s safe yield is 5.5 million gallons per day.
Daily water use is 600,000 gallons of water a day on average and 800,000 gallons of water a day at summer peak.
Parker Pond’s watershed is larger than Moose Hill Pond, Burdo said. The downfall to Parker Pond is the water quality and color.
Parker Pond has a 6,098-acre watershed area and 101 acres of surface area. Moose Hill Pond has a 434-acre watershed area and 94 acres of surface area.
Livermore Falls has an ordinance to protect Moose Hill Pond that includes bans on swimming, ice fishing shacks and power augers during winter, and gas-powered boats, Burdo said.
Jay doesn’t have an ordinance to protect Parker Pond.
According to a Maine Drinking Water Program assessment, the most significant source threat to Parker Pond is public use.
Rob Taylor, a Jay teacher, said his students have been monitoring water quality at Parker Pond for seven years and the water quality is stable and good, but not as great as Moose Hill.
“What we need to think about is keeping it that way,” Taylor said. He said there needs to be a balance between recreation and drinking water.
Burdo said the cost of prevention is much less than cost of treatment.
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