Excessive winter salt use on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks causes expensive structural damage, additional landscaping work, environmental harm, and does not increase vehicle and pedestrian safety.

Join the Long Creek Watershed Management District, Maine Turnpike Authority, Maine Department of Transportation, local municipalities, and commercial winter maintenance companies to meet with Phill Sexton, developer of the Sustainable Winter Management (SWiM) program, to improve winter maintenance contract language, reduce insurance liability, strategically invest in equipment, and provide a safe and efficient level of service to customers. The SWiM program has safely reduced road salt applications by up to 50% on state, municipal, and commercial spaces throughout the country.

Following Phill’s presentation, attendees will share their strategies, salt reduction methods, equipment recommendations, and data.

8:00-8:30 AM | Breakfast & Caffeine
8:30-9:15 AM | Sustainable Winter Management (SWiM) Program
9:15-10:00 AM | Facilitated Discussion & Management Strategies
*10:00-10:30 AM | Truck and Equipment Shop Tour

*The Interlocal Stormwater Working Group meeting will continue inside from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM.

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Join the Long Creek Watershed Management District, Maine Turnpike Authority, Maine Department of Transportation, local municipalities, and commercial winter maintenance companies to meet with Phill Sexton, developer of the Sustainable Winter Management (SWiM) program, to improve winter maintenance contract language, reduce insurance liability, strategically invest in equipment, and provide a safe and efficient level of service to customers. The SWiM program has safely reduced road salt applications by up to 50% on state, municipal, and commercial spaces throughout the country.

Following Phill’s presentation, attendees will share their strategies, salt reduction methods, equipment recommendations, and data.

8:00-8:30 AM | Breakfast & Caffeine
8:30-9:15 AM | Sustainable Winter Management (SWiM) Program
9:15-10:00 AM | Facilitated Discussion & Management Strategies
*10:00-10:30 AM | Truck and Equipment Shop Tour

*The Interlocal Stormwater Working Group meeting will continue inside from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM.

Want to grow a healthier garden?

Lead in urban soil is a real danger, but you don't have to guess what's in your dirt. We joined University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Cultivating Community, City of Portland, City of Portland Sustainability Office, Greener Neighborhoods Cleaner Streams, and Fresh Food Gardens for the Urban Soils & Lead Workshop featuring local experts and real-world demonstrations to help cultivate safer, healthier gardens!

📍 Learn more and grab your kit at www.cumberlandswcd.org/yardscape

Dive Into Clean Water Week! 🌊

Clean Water Week is officially back from June 7th through June 13th, 2026, and we have an incredible lineup of informative, hands-on, and fun community events planned all week long!

Our daily choices have a massive impact on the health of our local ecosystems. Clean Water Week is our collective chance to come together as neighbors, learn how our actions affect local water quality, and discover simple, real-world steps we can take to protect Portland’s streams and the beautiful Casco Bay.

Whether you want to get creative with community stenciling, unwind with forest bathing, or catch an award-winning documentary screening, there is something for everyone. Check out the full schedule of events below and find out how you can dive in and make a splash for clean water!

Tuesday 6/9  |  1:00pm - 3:00pm

Storm Drain Stenciling

If you see Portland Water District staff volunteers in their reflective safety vests, be sure to thank them for participating in this community service event! Volunteers will be stenciling storm drains in our roadways to help remind everyone that only rain goes down the drain. Stormwater discharges directly to our streams, rivers, and the bay and we can all help keep stormwater clean! Reach out to Jodie Keene (jkeene@portlandmaine.gov) or Doug Roncarati (dar@portlandmaine.gov), the City Stormwater Program Coordinators, if you would like to host your own storm drain stenciling event!

Friday 6/12  |  12:30pm - 1:30pm

Watershed Model at Children’s Museum

Join the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District at the Maine Children's Museum and Theater to use our hands-on, interactive watershed model to explore how water from your street connects to the ocean where fish eat. The “Enviroscape” model allows people of all ages to explore the sources and effects of water pollution and the best ways to prevent it. Participants will learn how storm water runoff carries pollutants through the watershed to a pond, lake, river, bay, or ocean. (Free with museum admission)

Friday 6/12  |  12:00pm - 1:00pm 

Lunch & Learn - Clean Water & the Casco Bay Watershed

Come by the Portland Public Library to learn about the Casco Bay Watershed and ways you can help keep our waters clean and healthy. Doug Roncarati (Stormwater Program Coordinator, City of Portland) will give a presentation about threats to water quality and real-world solutions that we can all use! Doug will also discuss approaches the City is using to manage and reduce stormwater and wastewater pollution in order to protect and restore our inland and coastal waters. For more information, visit the Portland Public Library website. Be sure to also check out the Clean Water Week Reading List  curated by library staff for inquiring minds and clean water based literary enjoyment.

Saturday 6/13  |  12:30pm - 2:45pm

Film Screening & Panel Discussion - Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong

We are thrilled to offer a screening of the widely-acclaimed, award-winning film, “Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong,” by Kaitlyn Schwalje and Alex Wolf Lewis. This documentary-style film features our very own hometown heroes doing all they can to stay afloat as America’s aging wastewater systems begin to fail. The film runs for 90 minutes, followed by a 30-minute panel discussion and Q&A with Scott Firmin (General Manager, Portland Water District), Bill Boornazian (Water Resources Manager, City of Portland), Troy Moon (Sustainability Director, City of Portland), Matt Grooms (Deputy Director of Planning & Urban Development, City of Portland), Curtis Bohlen (Executive Director, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership), moderated by Ali Clift (Education & Outreach Coordinator, Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District).

Even closer to home, the weedkillers and fertilizers used to keep lawns pristine easily wash into our storm drains, eventually making their way into Casco Bay, local lakes, and rivers.

The good news? You can make a massive difference right in your own backyard. By converting even a portion of your lawn into a wildlife-friendly native garden, you can help combat the steep decline of regional birds and pollinators.

Here is a simple, step-by-step guide to transforming your yard into a conservation haven:

1. Start Small

Don’t worry about digging up your entire yard overnight! Avoid potential weed and erosion issues by picking a manageable pilot spot—like a strip along a fence, a section by your sidewalk, or a "soft landing" garden bed around the base of a mature tree.

2. Plan with Maine Natives in Mind

Native plants have spent millennia adapting to our local climate and soil conditions, making them absolute magnets for local wildlife. For instance, monarch caterpillars depend entirely on native milkweeds to survive. Before buying, assess your chosen spot: Is it sunny or shady? Is the soil sandy, loamy, or frequently wet?

3. Clear the Grass Safely

There are plenty of low-impact ways to say goodbye to your turfgrass without relying on harsh chemicals:

• Sheet Mulching: Cover the grass with cardboard to block out the sunlight.

• Solarization: Lay clear plastic over the area during the peak of summer to bake the turf underneath.

• Manual Removal: Use a shovel or rent a sod cutter for immediate results. If you choose cardboard or plastic, you can leave the dead grass underneath to decompose naturally, adding rich organic matter back into your soil.

4. Source Your Plants Smartly

You might not always find a robust selection of native plants at standard big-box garden centers. Keep an eye out for local plant swaps, regional native plant nurseries, or community plant sales. To save on costs, look for plugs—small, young plants that grow rapidly once they hit the ground.

5. Let Them Touch

When you plant, skip the extra commercial garden soil if your choices already match your yard's natural conditions. Space them so that as they mature, they grow into one another. As our master gardeners like to say, "Plants want to touch each other, not look at acres of mulch." A dense native bed means fewer weeds for you to pull in the long run! Remember the classic perennial rule: the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap.

6. Practice "Lazy" Fall and Winter Cleanup

Once your garden is established, it will require very little watering outside of severe droughts. When autumn arrives, resist the urge to cut everything down to the ground. Leave the plant stems and fallen leaves intact through the winter; our native bees, butterflies, and fireflies rely on that leaf litter and hollow stems to safely overwinter.

Ready to get your hands dirty? Shrinking your lawn is a powerful way to protect Maine’s water quality and bring the joyful sounds of birds, frogs, and pollinators right to your doorstep.

This guide was adapted from an NPR Life Kit feature highlighting community-driven climate and conservation solutions.

Read more at the links below.

Don’t miss these events and workshops coming up this month!

We received so many exciting and insightful proposals for the 2026 conference. The committee will be selecting and contacting presenters in the coming weeks, and we can’t wait to fill our agenda with fascinating talks and topics to address Real World problems and solutions in stormwater.

While the excitement continues to grow as we plan the conference, sponsorship packages are now open and it’s time to secure your spot! Click here to check out Sponsorship offerings for this year’s Maine Stormwater Conference.

Thank you to all the folks who submitted presentations, and thank you to the Maine Stormwater Conference Committee Members.

Aimee Mountain, GZA

Aubrey Strause, City of South Portland

Cara Belanger, Stillwater Environmental Engineering

Cody Obropta, Maine Department of Environmental Protection

John Kuchinski, City of Lewiston

Martha Sheils, New England Environmental Finance Center

Mary Wicklund, Town of Windham

Mike Everhart, EJ Prescott

Scott Gorneau, Convergent Water Technologies

Ali Clift, CCSWCD

Abby Olszewski, CCSWCD

Chris Brewer, CCSWCD

Kat Kranich Wojcik, CCSWCD

Workshop Descriptions

Heathy Lawn Care Made Easy: Do you want a lawn that’s safe for families, pets, and the environment while saving time and money? Learn how to build healthy soil for healthy lawn with tips on fertilizing, weed and pest management, watering, renovating an unhealthy lawn, and more. Whether you maintain your lawn or hire a professional, round up your neighbors and join us!

From Lawns to Landscapes: Learn how to swap your lawn and associated maintenance for pollinator gardens, vegetative buffers, edible landscapes, groundcovers, rain gardens, and other natural landscapes you can choose from to make your yard work for you.

The Climate Caretakers at First Parish Church will hold a presentation on resilient lawns on Friday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Gorham homeowner and advocate for sustainable gardening, John Ersek, will share information on native grasses and wildflowers. Robyn Landes of the City of South Portland's Sustainability Department will speak, along with Lia Farnham, veteran volunteer and program coach with "100 Resilient Yards," a popular program in South Portland.

The presentation will be on Friday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at First Parish Church, 1 Church Street, Gorham (entrance next to lower parking lot). Free and open to the public.

This workshop is intended for landowners interested in learning about backyard invasive plants and invasive pest species. Topics covered will include how to identify invasive species, their history, their impacts, and how you can manage and eradicate them.

Westbrook City Forest 
Saturday, March 21, 2026 1:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
$5 per person

Participants should be able to traverse up to a mile of uneven walking trails that may covered in storm weather elements (snow, ice, rain, leaves, etc.). Please dress accordingly to outside conditions. 

Kristie Munson, CCSWCD's Educator, will be leading this workshop. Kristie has dual Master of Education and Master of Science degrees in Environmental Education and Resource Management of a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies. Kristie has extensive experience in invasive species management and helps provide urban agriculture technical assistance services when she isn't providing lessons in the local schools or conducting workshops. 

This workshop is partially funded through a National Association of Conservation District's Urban Agriculture Technical Assistance Grant. 

The City of South Portland is seeking volunteer coaches to join the Resilient Yards community!

In its fourth year, the South Portland Resilient Yards Program will continue its focus on replacing lawn areas with native habitat gardens. Volunteer coaching positions are open to anyone who has an enthusiasm to learn about native plants and build relationships with community members. After undergoing a series of trainings, coaches are paired with South Portland residents and collaborate with them to get started in cultivating a resilient landscape. Coaches will share information about native plants, offer advice for how to maintain native habitat gardens, answer questions, and help participants design and install native habitat gardens with program resources.

Learn more and apply by March 20th: Apply here. 

"Invasive species threaten Maine's environment, economy, and way of life," says Governor Mills. "Through prevention, early detection, and rapid response, we can help protect our forests, waters, agriculture, and outdoor heritage for generations to come." Because Maine is a big state, we need all Mainers to be on the lookout for invasive species and take an active role in mitigating their spread."

In her proclamation, Governor Mills noted that invasive species can damage lakes and rivers, forests, crops, and infrastructure, and pose risks to human health and wildlife habitat. The proclamation recognizes the collective work of state agencies, lake associations, conservation organizations, and local partners who help manage invasive species and support Maine communities and businesses. Most importantly, she recognizes the efforts of everyday citizens who notice something different in their yard, lake, forest, or field and report it to a local organization. Early detection is critical.

Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District (CCSWCD) is seeking proposals from qualified professionals and/or firms (“Service Providers”) in conducting a Stream Corridor and Habitat Assessment in 2026 of Trout Brook and Kimball Brook located in South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. These assessments are to update data referenced in the 2012 Trout Brook Watershed Management Plan which included a Stream Corridor Assessment completed in 2011 and a Rapid Habitat Assessment completed in 2003. 

Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District and Portland Water District staff met at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Casco Fish Hatchery to pick up 6,000 brook trout eggs for 11 schools to raise in their classrooms before releasing into local streams this spring.

Despite the extreme cold this week, the trout are already "strongly eyed" (large and dark) inside the egg, meaning they'll likely start hatching before February Vacation instead of after.