Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Sustainable Lake Management in Maine’s Changing Landscape
EPA Grant Number: R833344Title: Sustainable Lake Management in Maine’s Changing Landscape
Investigators: Bell, Kathleen P. , Wilson, Jeremy , Leahy, Jessica
Institution: University of Maine
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: May 1, 2007 through January 30, 2010 (Extended to December 30, 2011)
Project Amount: $299,249
RFA: Collaborative Science And Technology Network For Sustainability (2006) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Lake management research has traditionally focused on the biophysical dynamics of lakes and the negative impacts of human activities on lake ecosystems and has employed a reactive perspective, responding to major management problems after, rather than before, they emerge. Relatively new lines of research point to enormous benefits from integrating human and natural systems research and working with stakeholders to develop decision‐support tools to support pro‐active lake management opportunities. With these suggestions in mind, we designed our CNS project as an integrative, interdisciplinary research project to support sustainable lake management.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
We successfully created spatial databases of residential development and lake characteristics and used social science theory to analyze human behavior related to the interactions between residential development and lake characteristics. Our initial state‐scale and community‐based work of recent residential development trends revealed interesting patterns of residential development within the state of Maine. Our state‐scale research confirmed the presence of distinct markets for year‐round and seasonal residential properties and exposed different patterns of land conversion from undeveloped to residential use in the southern/coastal and northern/inland regions of Maine. Access to lakes was generally positively correlated with conversion pressure. Statistical analysis of the relationship between land cover (drainage area) and lake water quality trends revealed no consistent or systematic patterns. Spatial statistical analysis and time‐trend analysis of water clarity revealed some global patterns but few local trends in correlation. While our work pointed to interesting relationships, it also revealed notable data gaps that constrain both research and state and municipal management activities. Our community‐scale research of residential development revealed interesting relationships between land use and zoning policies and the spatial distribution of residential development within the city of Ellsworth, Maine. Simulations based on an empirical analysis of recent land conversion activity revealed that land use policies can and do shift the spatial distribution of development and that targeted changes in policies to protect lake and other water resources can result in shifts of development to other regions. Moreover, this research helped advance a GIS tool to help planners in communities better anticipate the impacts of policy changes on stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution.
Conclusions:
This project ultimately demonstrated the significance of understanding human behavior to achieving sustainable lake management goals. How households, lake associations, land‐use planners, and resource managers make decisions is relevant to the future health of lake ecosystems and human communities. We responded to stakeholder requests for more information about changing landscapes, attitudes, and perceptions of landscape and lake change, and household decision making. We assessed the network of lake associations in Maine to evaluate the contributions of these novel resource‐based institutions and collaborated with citizen‐science lake monitoring organizations to assess the monitoring abilities of these volunteers. In summary, our work provides a real‐world test of sustainability science research approaches that stress researcher‐stakeholder collaborations and problem-focused research. Ultimately, our project's greatest contributions involved social science research that helped managers, associations, and government officials better understand the attitudes and behavior of residents and property owners. Improved understanding of these human processes is essential to collaborative, sustainable lake management.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 44 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, Energy, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Environmental Monitoring, green design, sustainable water use, ecological design, environmental sustainability, alternative infrastructure design, community based, sustainable urban environment, energy efficiency, environmental educationProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
- 2010 Progress Report
- 2009 Progress Report
- 2008 Progress Report
- 2007 Progress Report
- Original Abstract