LAWPC, the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission, was formed in 1993 as a joint entity of Lewiston and Auburn to protect the Lake Auburn watershed. Before that, the Auburn Water District and Lewiston Water Division worked independently and maintained separate intake facilities, treatment equipment, and laboratory facilities.

It wasn’t until the federally mandated Surface Water Treatment Rule came along in 1989 that the two water utilities began to discuss partnering, both to protect Lake Auburn and to share operational costs. The SWTR required that all surface water supplies (such as Lake Auburn) would have to be filtered unless they met detailed criteria for water quality and source water protection.

The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1974 to protect the quality of drinking water in the U.S. In subsequent years the SDWA has been amended to continue to improve public water quality, protection, and treatment. President Ronald Reagan authorized an amendment to the SDWA in 1986, which ultimately led to development of the SWTR. The rule aimed to protect aquifers from pollutants by requiring individual states to mandate the creation of source protection programs. The amendments also required filtration of degraded surface water supplies to protect public health.

Faced with the prospect of building a filtration plant that might have cost as much as $50 million, the cities’ two utilities worked together to get a “waiver from filtration,” for which they had to document that they could meet six specific SWTR requirements:

Meet minimum disinfection requirements.

Establish a watershed control program.

Conduct a sanitary survey of the watershed.

Document that Lake Auburn had no previous waterborne disease outbreaks.

Ensure compliance with EPA regulations for disinfection byproducts.

Ensure compliance with lake water bacteria requirements.

Two of the required items — disinfection and dealing with byproducts — involved water treatment. Two more items related directly to existing water quality — establishing historically low levels of bacteria and documenting the absence of any previous waterborne diseases. The sanitary survey was a straightforward effort.

LAWPC owes its existence to the final item — establishing a watershed control program. Getting that ambitious project planned and implemented left Lewiston and Auburn little choice but to work as a team.

The state of Maine, under authority of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, eventually granted the Twin Cities a waiver from filtration, but only after approving a specific water quality monitoring program to ensure public health, and upon creating a joint watershed protection team.

Preparing for the SWTR, the Auburn Water District had hired an engineering consultant, Camp Dresser & McKee of Cambridge, MA, to evaluate the lake’s water quality and determine how to treat the water and protect the watershed. The engineering study’s key recommendation: “Establish the Lake Auburn Watershed Commission consisting of members from the Auburn Water District, Lewiston Water Department, and the Androscoggin Valley Regional Planning Commission.”

The logic behind that suggestion was that several towns within the Lake Auburn watershed lay outside Auburn. In those areas, the Auburn Water District had no control over land use or other activities that could affect the lake and the drinking water supply. So the engineering study recommended a more “regional” type of commission, adding that it be established as soon as possible.

Mailings to all watershed residents followed, as well as multiple public hearings in 1991 to discuss the formation of LAWPC and its bylaws. Officially created in 1993, the commission has a nine-member board with three representatives appointed by the Auburn Water District, three by the Lewiston City Council, one by Turner and one by the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments. The towns of Hebron, Minot, and Buckfield also have a shared appointment to the commission.

LAWPC has no paid staff, but gets operational money from the Lewiston Water Division and Auburn Water District. LAWPC’s planned 2011 operations budget is $119,788, which includes equal contributions of $54,720 from both the Auburn Water District and Lewiston Water Division. A small amount of revenue comes from timber harvesting of LAWPC land and from the bulk water haulers that withdraw water from Lake Auburn. They include the “Splash” trucks that haul water to fill swimming pools.

In turn, LAWPC reimburses Lewiston and Auburn for costs such as maintaining the Route 4 boat launch; furnishing and maintaining porta-potties at the boat launch and at the North Auburn picnic and fishing area; maintaining the Lake Shore Drive turnouts, including lawn mowing, park benches, and trash collection; maintaining Spring Road as a recreational area, including mowing, culvert repair and replacements; managing and controlling invasive plants within The Basin, one of the key watershed tributaries, as well as Lake Auburn; patrolling around the lake; and monitoring and sampling water quality.

LAWPC’s emergence has led to numerous cooperative arrangements between the Auburn Water District and Lewiston Water Division, keeping costs under control for both water ratepayers and taxpayers. Examples include a joint laboratory, with a single shared water quality manager; construction of a single joint intake; construction of shared chemical treatment facilities; a shared supervisory control and data acquisition system; employment of a joint SCADA technician; shared bid processes for engineering services, annual trench paving, annual chemical supplies, and other construction projects such as cleaning and relining of water mains; and creation of a joint HAZMAT Team to respond to chemical spills or confined space (below-ground facilities) rescues.

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