Title

"News & Issues" piece on a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permit f

Authors

Phyllis Austin

Source

Maine Times

Date

6-24-1999

Pages

9

Abstract

"News & Issues" piece on a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permit for damming a tributary of the Prestile Stream in Aroostook County to create a 20-acre irrigation pond for potato farmers Robert McCrum and Robert Lunney, who would use the pond to irrigate 234 acres of adjoining cropland. Mike Bartlett, director of the New England field office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Concord, N.H., is opposing the project and is urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' regulatory division to deny a permit that would be required from their office. Nick Archer of the DEP's Presque Isle office says the cost of irrigation ponds, at $20,000 to $40,000, might be prohibitive. The McCrum-Lunney pond is a demonstration project. According to John Harker of the Department of Agriculture, another problem stems from the fact that irrigation ponds need to be located in low areas so they can be recharged by natural flow, and often that involves a wetland with wildlife value.

Subjects

Irrigation, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Wetlands

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