Colby Team Builds Sustainability Coalition in Belgrade Lakes Region
With water quality in slow decline and development pressure challenging already fragile ecosystems, basic measures are needed to save the Belgrade Lakes Watershed from serious harm and the resulting economic consequences.
A team from Colby College realized that before phosphorous pollutants and algae blooms could be purged from the lakes and more rigorous development standards instituted, the region needed an effective system to make sustainability a real option
Working on a grant funded through the Sustainability Solutions Intiative (SSI) at UMaine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (Mitchell Center), D. Whitney King and colleagues spent five years advancing toward that goal. King, Miselis Professor of Chemistry at Colby, knew there were efforts underway by the state and community organizations to improve water quality and protect the region’s economy. He also knew a centralized infrastructure would be necessary to organize and amplify those stakeholder efforts.
“Our most important work was with the community and conservation professionals in the Belgrades,” King said. “What this project let us do is pull all of those efforts together and structure them into a system which is going to pay dividends for years.” See more on this story