Updated: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 12:26 PM

The first year of my two year term as your President has come and gone with the completion of our annual meeting which was held on July 30th. I would like to thank all the members who where able to attend as your participation and input is valued and necessary as we move forward. As I’m sure many of you know by now, much of this past years focus and activities has been directed at the recently passed Ellsworth City Ordinance pertaining to water surface use on Branch Lake. I believe the Ordinance emerged as a fair workable document that will help protect water quality for years to come. We were fortunate to have input into this process because two of your BPA council members served and continue to serve on the Ellsworth Water Supply Commission.

I would like to complete this message by telling you, the membership, of things that are needed this coming year to make your Branch Pond Association an even more successful organization.

1. Any addresses or e-mails that have changed need to be e-mailed to NshHllBrnchLk@msn.com or land mailed to BPA, P.O. Box 850, East Holden, Maine 04429 so that we can communicate with the membership and keep you all informed of important issues as they occur.

2. We need continued support from the current membership in the form of making sure your dues are current if you have not already done so.

3. We need more members so that we will continue to have input and influence concerning decisions made by the City of Ellsworth or others that pertain to Branch Pond. This means we still need someone to step forward to lead efforts towards this goal or at the very least have someone from each road work towards increasing the membership on their respective roads. You of those willing, please let me know. 207 460-0652.

4. We need for members of The Association to remember that no organization continues to exist or flourish without your input and participation. We need people to step forward and help in any little or big way they can. The more people who do this, the less work is left for a few.

5. Most important of all, I have a need to thank all of you have contributed so much this year and in the past. You know who you are and without you this wonderful place called Branch Lake would simply not be the special place it is.

Thank you for all you do - it has made it a privilege to serve as your President.

The Surface Use Ordinance passed, and is in effect now. The BPA board hopes all lakefront landowners will go to city hall and get their boat tags to be in compliance. There is NO FEE for the tags this year.

BOAT TAGS and INSPECTIONS:
Even though the fee is waived this year, every boat operating on Branch must have a boat tag. The first step is to go upstairs in City Hall, through the double glass doors to the office of the Planning Assistant, Lori Roberts. Ask for Boat Tag Application forms. You will need to know your boat registration numbers, trailer and vehicle registration numbers, and length and color of each craft. Remember that you need to fill out one form for each boat, including sailboats, sailboards, kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, jetski or jetboats, and all boats with motors of any kind.

If the boat is never used, by you or anyone else, in any waters except Branch Lake, fill out the Request for Inspection Waiver form on the backside of the Boat Tag Application form. You will get a silver sticker to put on your boats that are only used on Branch.

If you have one or more boats which sometimes leave the lake, they will need to be inspected for invasive plants when you bring them back into Branch. They can be inspected by the city boat inspector at the public launch in the Mill Pond, during on-duty hours, or inspected by a certified self-inspector in your neighborhood, or you can become a certified self-inspector. You will get a yellow sticker to put on boats that may be used in waters other than Branch Lake. Additionally, when the boats are inspected, a permit form will be filled out to help the city collect data on boat movement by residents as well as renters, guests, and the public boaters.

A SPECIAL NOTE:
If you rent your house and allow renters to bring in their craft, or if you allow guests to bring any craft into Branch from your property, you are responsible to make sure they have the necessary tags, inspections, and permits in advance. They will need to fill out the same boat tag application form and obtain an inspection and permit. Remember TIP, Tag, Inspection, and Permit, are needed to boat on Branch.

OTHER PROVISIONS:
The ordinance has several other provisions to protect the lake from contamination. We are attaching the ordinance from the City's website for your reference. If you or your renters have friends who might fly in to visit in a pontoon plane, please notify them that planes are not allowed to land on Branch after today. Also note that ATV's are not allowed in the lake or in any streams that run into the lake.

This ordinance gives the City authority to enforce the no-wake zone which is also in state boating law, namely, within 200 feet of shore, boats may not exceed headway speed. Headway speed is defined as the minimum speed necessary to maintain forward movement. This is to protect the shoreline from erosion from wakes, and a safety measure since swimmers use the 200' near shore. There are other common-sense measures to minimize pollution from gasoline, oil and boat detergents, etc., and provisions to protect the lake from winter recreational activities. Finally, please note that new boat launches, private or public, are prohibited, since boat launches can contribute polluting runoff from the land and are vectors for the introduction of invasive plants.

This ordinance will help protect Branch Lake from further degradation. As the City of Ellsworth protects its water supply, our property values will also be protected. Let's make sure we do our part to make this ordinance work so we can continue to enjoy recreation on Branch Lake for generations to come.

For the past four years, the BP A has conducted a Level 3 inspection of Branch Pond looking for milfoil or other aquatic invasive species. A Level 3 analysis involves examining the entire shoreline of both the upper and lower basins. This summer's inspection is in progress and I am once again happy to report that, so far, no invasives have been found.

This is an enormous undertaking and we are one of very few lakes in Maine that do a Level 3 on a yearly, and purely volunteer, basis. Thanks are extended to the following families who help with this effort: Don & Sarah Roach (Phillips Way), Frank & Sally Lee Howd (Carter Way), Jane & Terry Holland (Phillips Way), Jane & George Ice (Phillips Way), Lorna & Ralph Whedon (Branchview North), Paul, Vi, & Marcia Wight (Branchview North), Carol, John & Emily Gabransky (Branchview North), Judy & Blake Babcock (Walls Farm Road), Mark & Mary Lausier (Sargents Drive), Phil & Brenda Hopkins (Sargents Drive), Beth & Tim Smart (Hanson's Landing), Jane & Fred Jagels (Wildwood Drive), Pam & Brian Dodge (Cove Way), Laura & John Wilson (Wilson Way), George & Charlotte Lewis (Wilson Way), Ginny & Susan Bourne/Rylander (Phillips Way), Rosemary & Don Robbins (Phillips Way), Kim & Dave Skaves (Pickerel Cove Way), Barbara & WaIter Jonsson (Pickerel Cove Way),Bob & Lynn Beal (Borr Way), and Don & Anne Hayes (Phillips Way).

It's a big lake and we can always use more help. If you would like to become involved with this project and become a BPA "Milfoil Ranger," contact either of the committee co-chairs: Carol Gabransky (664-2675) or Don Hayes (667-4716).

The Branch Pond Sailing Club has now become a part of BPA's history due to lack of participants. The first race was in 1982 when the Branch Pond Association was newly organized and it became a very popular yearly event. In 1986 the BPA asked me to take the position of Commodore. Dave Hardy volunteered to be the timekeeper and we expanded the regatta to seven races per season and used the Portsmouth Handicapping System to determine the racing results. With a committee boat, racing flag, cannon, regatta buoys, and a set of racing rules we were well organized. We had a social program along with the races and called it a sailing club but it was open to anyone on the lake who wanted to participate.

Over the years we had many mishaps. One time the anchor on the committee boat started slipping just as the boats were coming to the finish line. I remembers Ralph Whedon hollering, "Can you please slow down so I can finish". Another time we had a Polish race. The race would start and half way around the gun would go off and everyone would turn around and race back. Don Hayes was sailing a boat that didn't point well and with wind problems couldn't get across the starting line. He was there when the boats returned and was declared the winner. There was always a lot of laughter and camaraderie at our social events following the races.

The big event or the season was our annual awards parties. One year we had our final race down through the narrows and lower lake to the Finn's beach. This was a combined lunch and awards party. Such events made the newspaper.

The thing of lasting memory will be our awards trophy. Each year we would add the name of the winner to the trophy using a brass plate. Over the twenty-year period this added up to an impressive list with many names repeated. There is an untold story behind each name on how he competed and the satisfaction he received.

There is always one outstanding member in every club that everyone would like to beat. I believe it is safe to say that put to a vote our club would select Ron Fitzpatrick as that person. His Hobie cat had such a low handicap he often lost in corrected time but his competitive spirit and personality was such that the club was never the same after his untimely death.

For Dave Hardy and me it was time we retired. We have had a good go at it and the job satisfaction has been tremendous. In terms of the BPA's objectives the sailing club has been good for the lake both environmentally and socially. Also, the races were a beautiful thing to watch on Sundays.

The Summer 2005 issue of the COLA Newsletter reports a frightening "near miss" on Unity Pond east of Waterville (about 45 minutes from here). On Father's Day, 2005, a volunteer inspector at the public boat launch was examining bass boats as they went into the water for a fishing tournament. Having been through the VLMP's training for invasive aquatic species, the inspector noticed an unusual weed caught in the carpeted bunks of the trailer. He cleaned the weed off and allowed the boat to launch. Subsequently, the weed was identified as Water Chestnut (i.e., a 5th invasive species now found in Maine).

Water Chestnut grows to a depth of I5 feet and produces layers of fruited vegetation, which choke out all other plant and fish life. It is a bad invasive. In the past 20 years, New York and Vermont have spent in excess of $3.6 million dollars in attempts to control its growth in Lake Champlain alone.

What happened earlier in the summer on Unity Pond speaks to our need to inspect all boats that enter Branch Lake whether they be our own, our friends', or boats of day visitors coming in at the public launch.

Many people think that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) tracks the water quality of Maine lakes. With over 2500 "Great Ponds" in Maine (larger lakes and ponds), it is impossible for DEP staff to adequately monitor each resource. The DEP collects data on some of these lakes (Branch included) every three years, but that is not sufficient to determine any quality trends in a reasonable time frame. Therefore, the DEP relies on volunteers (through the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program) to collect simple information that shows the overall health of our lakes.

The data collected by the volunteer monitors and the DEP are archived on the PEARL website (www.pearlmaine.com). Recently, I spent a couple of hours looking at the information on Branch. In addition to a GIS image of the lake and watershed (the land area that drains to the lake), I found depth maps, long-term stocking reports, and a wealth of water quality data. The most basic measurement of water quality is water clarity-simply, how clear is the water? The clarity of the water is measured visually with a secchi disk-a black and white disk is lowered into the water, and the depth at which it can no longer be seen is the "Secchi depth" or "transparency", measured in meters.

Secchi depths in Maine range from a few centimeters in a lake with algae blooms (such as Sebasticook used to have) to over 15 meters. If the transparency falls to below two meters (due to algae in the water) this is considered an "algae bloom". Average transparency for lakes in Maine is around 4-6 meters.

Branch exhibits excellent water quality as measured by Secchi transparency (see figure 1). It appears that the transparency is actually increasing, that is, that the lake is getting clearer. We do not know whether this represents an improvement in water quality due to our actions or if this is due to local climate change effects, but we do know that the transparency is well above state average.

Another measure of water quality is the amount of dissolved oxygen in the deep waters of the lake (see figure 2). In the summer, the warmer top waters of a lake "float" over the colder bottom waters. This means that no more oxygen from the atmosphere can get to the deep waters of the lake. During the late summer of 2003, it appears that even in the deepest parts of the upper lake, there is still above 5 mg/L of dissolved oxygen (DO). This is important because cold-water fish such as togue exhibit stress below 5 mg/L of DO. In the lower lake, the DO fell to 5 mg/L at about 10 meters below the surface (see figure 3). It is interesting to note that this lack of oxygen in the deep waters of the lower lake was seen in the mid-1970s readings by the DEP, but not in an early 1970s consultant's study of the lake.

Water quality monitoring is supported by the Branch Pond Association. Thanks to Joe Flanagan for many years of quality data!

Figure 1: Transparency readings from the early 1970s to 2003. Diamond shapes are readings from the upper lake (sample station 1), squares are readings from the lower lake (sample station 2). When looking at the left axis of this graph, think of the zero line as the surface of the lake-the greater the number, the clearer the lake.

Figure 2: Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen profiles from 2003. Again, the =ero line on the lejiaxis indicates the sUlface of the lake, and the depth numbers are below the surface. The diamonds indicate water temperature, and show the difference between the warmer surface waters (epilimnion) and the cold bottom waters (hypolimnion). The squares indicate the dissolved oxygen content of the water. There appears to be good oxygenation in the bottom waters of the upper lake.

Figure 3: Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen profiles from 2003. Again, the zero line on the left axis indicates the surface of the lake, and the depth numbers are below the surface. The diamonds indicate water temperature, and show the difference between the warmer surface waters (epilimnion) and the cold bottom waters (hypolimnion). The squares indicate the dissolved oxygen content of the water. Below the depth of 10 meters, it appears that the dissolved oxygen in the lower lake falls below 5 mg/L.

As you may have heard, the Department of Environmental Protection has recognized Branch Pond as leading the State in both (a) the number of families who have had a LakeSmart evaluation of their property, and (b) the number of Overall Award winners for environmentally sensitive shorefront development. Within the past two years, 21 families have had properties evaluated and 8 have earned the Overall Award.

Almost everyone who has been evaluated has implemented at least some changes suggested by the review team (e.g., increasing vegetative buffers along the shore, altering run-off paths, reducing graveled parking areas). As announced earlier, the BP A authorized five, $200, matching grants that will fund recommended LakeSmart improvements. Two of these grants have been approved with a third "on hold" for a year. Thus, two Grants are still available.

Contact Don Hayes (6674716) if you would like to apply for these monies or if you would like to arrange a LakeSmart evaluation.

My name is Milli Foil,
It's beautiful waters I spoil.

Once I get going,
I just keep on growing,
No matter how hard you toil!

So don't let me creep
(I even grow while you sleep!!)

Just keep me out,
And then you can shout:
"We've conquered that nasty (bleep bleep)!!"