AUBURN — So many people are walking their dogs along Whitman Spring Road — and not  cleaning up after them —  that it has raised pollution concerns and gotten the attention of the Auburn Water District.

The gated, 2-mile stretch of rural road runs along Lake Auburn and is popular with hikers and dog walkers. It is owned by the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission.

Signs tell visitors to keep their dogs leashed, but the signs do not ask them to clean up after the dogs. In the past, it hasn’t been a problem. 

“There may be more dogs visiting the area now,” said Mary Jane Dillingham, water quality manager for the Auburn Water District. “Over time, people hear about it and more people are visiting the area and bringing their dogs,”

The lack of cleanup has become an issue.

Dog feces dot the side of the road, piled on top of snow and submerged in mud puddles. The worst spots are near the road’s West Auburn entrance, uphill from the lake.

Dan St. Pierre of Auburn likes to visit the area. He recently complained to Dillingham about all the feces lining the road. 

“It was just unbelievable,” he said. “And to think that when the spring thaw comes and the runoff and the rains happen, that all this is going to run into the lake, our only drinking supply.”  

Dillingham asked St. Pierre to write an official letter to the Lake Auburn Watershed Commission advising it of his concerns. On Monday, she toured the area and found the same situation he did.

“It definitely needs to be addressed,” she said.

She plans to present the issue to the commission during its meeting Tuesday and to recommend ways to fix it, including posting signs asking people to clean up after their dogs. She said the commission may also want to consider putting waste receptacles in the area.

The amount of feces isn’t a serious threat to Lake Auburn, she said. But she doesn’t want it to become one.   

“That’s not an amount that would probably reach the lake and cause a large issue, but it still is about every little bit,” she said. “That little bit and then something else down the road. We don’t want the accumulation of all these things to eventually cause a problem. “

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