2008 Taylor Pond Water Quality Report

prepared by Dana Little 

This report summarizes the findings of the 2008 water quality monitoring program for Taylor Pond in Auburn, Maine.  Monitoring was conducted by Ralph Gould who performed biweekly Secchi readings and myself who did all of the chemical water testing.  Since 2004 Taylor Pond Association has been collecting its own water samples and performing most tests.  The Sawyer Environmental Chemistry Research Laboratory in Orono has been performing the phosphorus analysis on water samples submitted by me.  

The results of this year's monitoring are summarized below: 

Parameter	2008	Mean for Taylor Pond (since 1975)	Mean for all Maine Lakes Measured in 2007
Color	34	21	28
pH	7.05	6.98	6.83
Alkalinity	19.2	15.8	12
Conductance	125	86	47
Total Phosphorous core sample	10	10	12
Total Phosphorous bottom grab	13	26	(not published)
Secchi depth (meters) minimum	4.2	1.7 (minimum ever recorded)	0.5 (minimum ever recorded)
Secchi depth mean	5.0	4.6	4.84
Secchi depth maximum	6.35	6.5 (maximum ever recorded)	15.5 (maximum ever recorded)
Trophic State (by Secchi disk)	37	53	45
Trophic State (by core Total Phosphorous)	37	44	(not published)

 COLOR:

 Organic material that remains from dead plants and animals provides most of the water color.  Lakes drained by areas with more coniferous forests tend to be brown in color due to the slow degradation of the leaves of these trees.  Taylor Pond had a color measured at 28 in 2008 which at the mean for all Maine lakes of 28.  When the color is greater than 25 a lake is considered “colored” and the transparency is reduced.  

 PH:

 A measure of the acid-base status of the pond.  Taylor Pond had a pH of 7.05 in 2008 which is slightly greater than the mean of 6.83 for all Maine Lakes.  Acid rain caused by industrial pollutants can cause the pH in lakes to drop below 6.  This drop in pH kills off the healthy zooplankton (microscopic animals) leading to death of fish and overgrowth of algae.   The pH of Taylor Pond has been stable over the years and has not significantly changed.

 Alkalinity:

 A measure of the capacity of the water to buffer against a change in the pH.  Taylor Pond's alkalinity in 2008 was 19.2 compared to a mean for all Maine lakes of 12.0.  This indicates that our pond is unlikely to have a problem with acidity.  The level of alkalinity in Taylor Pond has remained little changed and is not of concern.

 Conductance:

 Conductance indirectly measures the relative number of dissolved ions in the water.  The higher the concentration of ions the greater the conductance. Conductance is used as a rough estimate of the amount of pollutants which usually are present as ions.  Although conductance is easy to measure it is not considered highly reliable.  Taylor Pond's conductance for 2008 was 125 compared to a historical mean of 86.   This does not represent a significant change.

 Total Phosphorous:

 Measurement of phosphorous provides the most reliable measure of the capacity of Taylor Pond to have an algal bloom.  Algae in Maine waters tend to be limited by the phosphorous content of the water.  If you provide enough phosphorous algae grows rapidly.  Algae cause depletion of oxygen in the water which kills animal life, colors the water green and when it dies creates unpleasant odors.  Taylor Pond's phosphorous was done using a core and bottom grab sampling technique.  Taylor Pond's phosphorous this year was 10, which is equal to the historical mean of 10.  This is below the average of 12 for all lakes in Maine.  It is also below the critical level of 15, at which level one tends to see algal blooms.  Lakes are categorized as oligotrophic (low level of biologic productivity), mesotrophic (intermediate) or eutrophic (high biologic productivity) based on how much phosphorous they contain.  A lake with a phosphorous of less than 10 is considered oligotrophic, between 10 and 30 is considered mesotrophic and over 30 is considered eutrophic.

 Secchi Disk:

 Secchi disk readings provide the easiest method for measuring the clarity of the water.  Algae, zooplankton (microscopic animals), natural water color and suspended soil all reduce the transparency of the water.  Algae cause most of the change in transparency in Taylor Pond.  The mean transparency this year was 5.0 which is better than the average for Taylor Pond of 4.6 and greater than the average for all lakes of 4.84. 

 Trophic State:

 This is a measure of the biologic productivity of the pond.  The higher the number, the more biologically productive the lake and typically the poorer the water quality.  The scale ranges from zero to over 100.  Ponds in the range between 40 and 50 are considered mesotrophic (moderately productive).  Values greater than 50 are associated with eutrophy (high productivity) and values less than 40 are associated with oligotrophy (low productivity).  Taylor Pond measured at 37 by Secchi Disk readings as well as 37 by phosphorous readings (considered the most accurate).  Taylor Pond's Trophic State as measured by the Secchi disk is lower than the state average of  45.

 Dissolved Oxygen Profiles:

 The amount of dissolved oxygen is measured at one meter depth intervals throughout the summer.  Generally down to a depth of 5 meters the oxygen level remains at a high level to sustain all animals.  Below 5 meters the oxygen levels early in the summer are high, but as the summer progresses the oxygen levels drop to levels (below 5ppm) unable to sustain fish and other aquatic animals. Warm water fish  (such as Sunfish, Perch, Pickerel and Bass) have no difficulty in Taylor Pond because they stay near the surface where the water is well oxygenated.  Cold water fish (such as Trout and Salmon) need the deeper colder water, below 20 degrees Celsius, to thrive. By August, this colder deeper water no longer contains enough oxygen for the fish.  In addition to the difficulty for fish, oxygen depletion near the bottom of the pond tends to release phosphorous into the water.  This is demonstrated by the higher phosphorous levels found in the bottom grab sample (13 at 10 meters depth vs. 10 in a core sample).  The oxygen depletion found below 4-8 meters is similar to what we have found in the past and continues to reflect the fragile state of Taylor Pond.

 Conclusions:

 The water quality of Taylor Pond is considered to be average compared to other Maine lakes.  The potential for an algal bloom continues to be moderate and has not changed from prior years.  Taylor Pond remains one of the 181 Maine lakes on the Maine Department of Environmental Protections Nonpoint Source Priority Watershed list.  This list contains those lakes considered to be threatened or impaired by nonpoint source pollution from land use activities on the surrounding watershed.  In addition the Stormwater Management Law considers Taylor Pond to be a lake “most at risk”. 

 Taylor Pond fails to meet standards for the the highest water quality due to the depletion of oxygen found at depths below 5 meters during the sumer.  In addition phosphorous levels remain just below the threshold of 15 which could trigger an algal bloom.  Monitoring of Taylor Pond has been conducted regularly since 1975.  During this time there has been no consistent trend in the parameters measured.  In the years we have been monitoring Taylor Pond ourselves, since 2004, there has been no algae blooms.  

 Because of the shallow depth of the pond (mean depth 17 feet) and low flushing rate (1.34 flushes per year, the number of times the water, on average, empties from the pond) Taylor Pond will likely always remain vulnerable to phosphorous loading and therefore algal blooms.  Because of oxygen depletion of deep water during the summer, the pond will likely never sustain a cold water fishery.  In addition, the oxygen depletion at depths below 5 meters releases an increased amount of phosphorous to the water.  Finally, each new structure or expansion of an existing structure, whether a home, garage, driveway, road, lawn or beach, increases the phosphorous loading of the pond. 

 We love Taylor Pond for its attractive qualities.  The shallow depth means that it quickly warms in the summer to provide excellent swimming close to the towns of Auburn and Lewiston.  It freezes quickly in the winter to provide skating, skiing and ice fishing during the winter.   It has an abundant bass and pickerel population that thrives in its warm waters and attracts people who enjoy fishing.  It has a naturally high level of biologic productivity that sustains an abundant wildlife population for all to enjoy.  It remains a place that never ceases to astound us with its beauty. 

 METHODS:

 Samples are collected near the deepest point in the pond.  This point has been determined previously and the historic location has been noted on maps available to the samplers.  This spot is reached by boat and verified each time by visual triangulation for Secchi disk readings by Ralph Gould.  In addition to visual triangulation an ultrasound depth meter is used before collecting core and grab samples.  Grab samples are taken using a Van Dorn Water Sampler.  Core samples are taken with a core sampler  home manufactured from a 50 foot flexible PVC tube.   The method for grab samples at a specified depth and core samples are done according to the protocol of the Maine Bureau of Land and Water Quality, Division of Environmental Assessment.

 COLOR:  Performed on core samples using a Hach color wheel (CO 20-100) and units are in Standard Platinum Units (SPU).

 PH and CONDUCTANCE:  Performed on core samples using a Hanna combination meter (temperature, pH and conductance HI 98129) with standardization using buffered control solutions at 7 and 4 and a conductance control solution of 1000.  Conductivity is measured in uS/cm.

 ALKALINITY:  Performed on core samples using a titration method with a Hach color wheel measured in milligram per liter. 

 PHOSPHOROUS:  Performed on core samples and bottom grab samples.  Samples are collected in the field, refrigerated and sent to the Sawyer Laboratory by mail. Measurements are in parts per billion (ppb).

 SECCHI DISK:  Performed using the method taught by the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program. Only certified users performed this task. Measurements of depth are in meters.

 DISSOLVED OXYGEN:  Performed in the field using a YSI 550A DO meter with 50 foot probe which measures temperature and dissolved oxygen from the surface to maximum depth.  The sampler and meter is yearly certified by the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program as to method and accuracy. Measurements of dissolved oxygen are in parts per million (ppm).

 TROPHIC STATE:  Carlson's Trophic State Index (TSI) is used in these calculations.  For Secchi disk depth TSI = 60 - 14.41 x (Natural Log of Secchi disk depth in meters). For total phosphorus TSI = 14.42 x (Natural Log of total phosphorous) + 4.15.