Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Two trenches protect lake fish from highway runoff

When historic buildings, a parking lot, and a public beach prevented the construction of standard highway-runoff controls along Route 35/37 at Lake Keoka outside Waterford, Maine, Maine Department of Transportation crews came up with a simple solution to the limited-space problem. They dug two trenches between the parking lot and the beach, filling them with geotextile fabric topped with crushed stone and bark mulch. They also planted a vegetative buffer of native plants on the lake-side of the trenches to provide shade for coldwater fish. The trench "infiltrators" have significantly reduced the amount of runoff entering the lake, preventing oxygen depletion and protecting the habitats of the lake's coldwater fish species and warmwater perch and pickerel.

--Apr 25, 2003

Chris Rushton, (207) 624-3219 or chris.rushton@maine.gov

Photo by Susan Breau, Maine Department of Transportation

Installation of trench "infiltrators" and native vegetation buffer on Route 35/37

Along Roads - Maine