STANDISH — “From Forest to Faucet: Forests, Water and People” will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at Alfond Auditorium, St Joseph’s College.

Dr. Paul Barten, Department of Natural Resource Conservation, UMass Amherst, will present the findings of the study, “Forests, Water and People: Drinking Water Supply and Forested Lands in the Northeastern U.S.” 

The study concludes that Maine’s Presumpscot watershed is the most vulnerable public drinking water reservoir watershed in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S. primarily due to the high percentage of privately owned land in the watershed.  Approximately 1/6 of Maine, 200,000 people, rely upon clean drinking water from the Portland Water District’s Sebago Lake reservoir.  Sebago Lake’s water quality relies, in part, on the health of the headwaters of the Crooked and Songo rivers.

Following Barten’s big picture presentation about the relationship between land use and water quality, Paul Hunt, environmental director for the Portland Water District, will address specific water quality research that the PWD has undertaken in the Sebago/Crooked River watershed.  

The evening, which is supported by the Portland Water District, the Western Foothills Land Trust, the Maine Community Foundation, Friends of the Presumpscot River and the Casco Bay Estuary Project, is part of the Crooked River Initiative.  

For directions to St. Joseph’s College, go to http://www.sjcme.edu/visit/directions.htm. For information about the Forest to Faucet project, visit http://wetpartnership.org.

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