Watershed Development PatternsResidential SurveyRoadsErosion Potential ModelErosion Impact ModelWater QualityWater Quality Study SitesLong Pond Water Quality AssessmentWATERSHED DEVELOPMENT PATTERNSResidential Survey House CountIntroductionThe amount of development in the watershed is a critical factor in determining the overallhealth of Long Pond South. Development may contribute to greater phosphorus loading throughthe installation of more wastewater disposal systems and the construction of roads. To quantifydevelopment in the watershed, CEAT conducted a residential survey inside the watershedboundaries, both along the shoreline and inland. Shoreline development has a potentially largerand more direct impact than inland development due to proximity to the lake. Shorelinedevelopment has historically caused the degradation of important buffer strips that protect thelake from nutrient-laden runoff. Even though shoreline zoning regulations have mandated a 250ft setback from great ponds, many older houses were built directly on the shoreline with little tono protective buffer. Houses like these contribute greatly to phosphorus loading, not onlythrough runoff from the lawn and impervious surfaces but also through leaching of septicsystems that are too close to the high water line. Many of these older septic systems are too closeto the high water line to be effective in filtering harmful nutrients from wastewater before itenters the water body. CEAT also considered the intensity of house usage within the watershed. While manyhouses in the area are used only seasonally, many others have residents year-round. WilliamNajpauer, Code Enforcement Officer of Rome (pers. comm.), identified the length of the summerseason as approximately 90 days, with the possibility of it becoming longer as time goes on.Seasonal houses contribute less to the phosphorus loading of the lake then year-round homesbecause the septic system is only used for part of the year. MethodsThe residential survey was conducted in two parts. The shoreline house survey was donein conjunction with the buffer strip survey on 20-September-07. On this day, houses within 250Colby College - Long Pond South Basin Report 76ft of the shoreline were counted from boats. These houses were categorized as seasonal or year-round homes. Chimneys, solid concrete foundations, and woodpiles were all consideredindicators of year-round residencies. The inland houses were counted during the road survey on24-September-07. These houses were also categorized as seasonal or year-round using the samecharacteristics. To measure the current rate of development, these house numbers were compared to thelot divisions on local, tax maps acquired from the town halls of Belgrade, Mount Vernon, andRome. Tax maps illustrate every defined lot, many of which remain undeveloped, representingthe future buildable land within the watershed. There are lots that are zoned for building, buthave not yet been developed.Results and DiscussionIn the Long Pond South watershed, CEAT counted a total of 365 houses. One hundredtwenty six (34.5 percent) of the houses counted were located on the shoreline, five of which arelocated on islands. The team classified 43 (34.1 percent) of these properties as permanent and 83(65.9 percent) were classified as seasonal. Two hundred thirty nine (65.5 percent) of the housescounted were inland. Of these non-shoreline properties, the majority of houses were classified aspermanent, at 229 (95.8 percent), and ten houses were classified as seasonal (4.2 percent). Houses close to the shoreline may have a much greater impact on water quality thanthose located far back from the shoreline. This is because there is less distance from the house tothe high water line for the ground to absorb and filter out nutrients that are potentially harmful to the water quality. This suggests that the shoreline homes may contribute more to phosphorusloading than non-shoreline homes. The phosphorus loading from shoreline homes may be lowerin the Long Pond South watershed than in other watersheds within the same local area due to thelower number of homes in the Long Pond South watershed than in others (Table 6). Shoreline residences are not spaced evenly along the shoreline of Long Pond South andthere are several undeveloped areas and large parcels of natural vegetation along the perimeter ofthe pond. The shoreline density of Long Pond South is 9.2 houses per shoreline mile. Comparedto other lakes in the region, this is a very low shoreline density (Table 6). This number islowered because of the large amount of unbuildable land, especially wetlands and stream basins,along the shoreline of the pond.Colby College - Long Pond South Basin Report 77Non-shoreline residences account for nearly two thirds of the total houses counted duringthe residential survey. While these houses do not pose as great a threat to the water quality of Long Pond South, they do contribute tophosphorus loading in the water. Theamount of phosphorus loading that can beattributed to non-shoreline homes dependson the soil type they are built on, as well asthe seasonality of the home. Currently, theminority of the homes is classified asseasonal. According to Richard Marble,Code Enforcement Officer of Mount Vernon(pers. comm.), the number of seasonalhomes being converted to year-round homesis rising and the number of new year-round homes is decreasing. However, in Rome, there islittle conversion of seasonal homes for year-round use, due to the resistance of manyhomeowners to sell off part of their land to allow for the widening and paving of roads thatwould be necessary for year-round use (Najpauer, pers. comm.). However, Najpauer hasobserved that houses in Rome are being expanded for greater intensity of use during the summerseason by building additional bedrooms. This discrepancy may suggest that some areas of thepond are more desirable than others, potentially due to differences in local laws between thethree towns.Buffer StripsIntroductionProximity of buildings to water may affect water quality; buildings that are closer to the water have a greater impact than those farther away from the shore. Cleared land, exposed soil, impervious