Boothbay Region Water District (BRWD) General Manager Weston Alley reported Nov. 25, Bigelow Laboratory is working on a report about local water quality, using results from PFAS ("forever chemicals") testing conducted in the watershed.  

“The water quality of Adams Pond and Knickerbocker (Lake) is awesome compared to water bodies in the state ... The money that we've spent, and the time we’ve spent into (PFAS) testing has definitely paid off,” he said.  

According to Alley, BRWD is going beyond required testing by trying to identify and migrate any PFAS hot spots in the watershed. This includes doing soil testing near regional fire stations, where products like firefighting foams often contain PFAS. The district is hoping to get grant funding for this undertaking.  

He also said “virtually zero” PFAS were found in the mulch used at Clifford Park, which the district asked to be tested last July. They are still waiting for results from the surrounding area testing.  

In other business, Adams Pond remains at 74% usable above the intake, which is the same figure Alley reported in November. As of Nov. 18, the county was still in a D3 extreme drought. “But the state is slowly replenishing. We are one of the last small sections in a D3."

The water flow average from the week of Nov. 17 was 321,000 gallons a day, compared to last year’s 287,000.