FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District, in partnership
with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, will sponsor the annual Pond Building and Maintenance Workshop from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, March 10, in the USDA Service Center conference room, Park Street.

The presenters will be
Candi Gilpatric and Bobby Van Riper.

Gilpatric is one of the Maine Natural Resource Conservation
Service Agricultural Engineers. She has 20 years of experience with the service and currently provides engineering assistance to the South Western
Maine counties.

She will focus on how to choose a pond site by
researching the hydrology and soils of the area and will discuss the
various styles of ponds and the methods for construction. For those with ponds, she will discuss some helpful maintenance items
to keep the pond safe and healthy.

Van Riper is from the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife out of Sidney. He will discuss the importance of oxygen
levels and temperature for fish health along with other biology type
information such as algae and cattails.

Preregistration is required with a fee of $15 to cover the cost of materials and light refreshments. To obtain a registration form, contact Rosetta Thompson at 778-4279 or download a form at www.franklincswcd.org.