Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust: Community Focused Watershed Monitoring and Management in Maine
By Samantha Baxter on September 10, 2025
Featured in fondriest.com’s Environmental Monitor
The Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust is one of many land trusts across the US dedicated to monitoring and maintaining natural resources for future generations by expanding and improving current protections based on data and community needs.
Such efforts are expansive, including watershed monitoring as well as education and outreach initiatives that keep communities informed. In order to keep all of these efforts staffed, the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust relies on volunteers to collect data.
Sarah Gladu, Director of Community Science for the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, manages a group of nearly 100 volunteers, coordinating monitoring efforts across the Damariscotta-Pemaquid region.
Monitoring Efforts in the Damariscotta-Pemaquid Watershed
Two long-term, large-scale monitoring programs managed by Gladu have been collecting data on the region’s lakes, rivers, and estuaries for years.
Estuary monitoring has focused on the Damariscotta River estuary, with water column data collection occurring twice a month throughout the spring, summer, and fall using a YSI Pro-Series water quality meter to measure depth, dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and pH at seven locations.
During site visits, volunteers also collect grab samples from the estuary that are then tested for nitrogen in the lab.
Gladu explains, “We have some specific concerns around nitrogen impact in the estuary because it has the capacity to exacerbate coastal acidification. So we are particularly interested in [nitrogen], but more generally in coastal acidification issues, because it plays a role in how oysters grow and it impacts many plants and animals along the shore.”
“We are collecting background data, but also we have a real interest in coastal acidification and anthropogenic impacts on the estuary,” she continues.
“The estuary is famous for the oysters that are raised here, and so it’s an important industry locally—it’s an important part of the economy. So, there’s a real use, not only for our organization as a land trust focused on stewardship, but it also can be used on the municipal level and locally to guide activities along the shore as well and inform the community,” adds Gladu.
The trust also oversees pond and lake monitoring at seven water bodies in the watershed. Data is collected using the same YSI meter and a Secchi disk to record water clarity. Surface phosphorus samples are also taken to be analyzed at the State of Maine Environmental Testing Laboratory.
This data is then shared with Lake Stewards of Maine to be included in the statewide database, which is then passed on to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to inform regulations and restoration efforts. The data is also used locally to help guide activities and education projects in the community.
There is also a new project occurring along the coast in partnership with the Maine Coastal Observing Alliance. Nine HOBO MX800 loggers are being deployed from the Harraseeket River estuary to Belfast Bay as part of a continuous monitoring program to collect water quality data along Maine’s shore.
Ultimately, the goal of these monitoring projects is to learn more about existing phenomena in the region as well as identify drivers of acidification in coastal areas of Maine.
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