Casco Bay

About a quarter of a million people (25% of Maine’s population) live in the Casco Bay watershed, an area of 945 square miles. Sebago lake, the largest freshwater body in southern Maine, provides drinking water to the Portland area.

Unfortunately rivers like the Presumpscot are heavily polluted, although things have slowly been improving. The river above the mill is Class B and Class A and has a relatively undeveloped shoreline. Several years ago, facing pressure from the state and the EPA, SAPPI stopped making pulp at its Westbrook paper mill, a major source of toxic discharge into the Presumpscot.

There are many beautiful stretches on the upper Presumpscot for canoeing, and the river boasts one of the most popular year-round catch and release fishing spots
in Southern Maine.

Local river organizations are working on river renewal through many channels, including dam removal, water quality monitoring, indigenous fish restoration and efforts to educate the public about the Presumpscot’s potential.

Local Organizations:
Casco Bay Watershed
CascoBay Estuary Project
P.O. Box 9300
49 Exeter St.
Portland, ME 04104
207-780-4820
207-780-4317 (fax)
cbep@usm.maine.edu
www.cascobay.usm.maine.edu

Friends of Casco Bay
2 Fort Road
South Portland, ME 04106
207-799-8574
207-799-7224 (fax)
keeper@cascobay.org
www.cascobay.org

Friends of the Presumpscot
P.O. Box 223
S. Windham, ME 04082
FOPR@presumpscotriver.org
www.presumpscotriver.org

Friends of the Royal River
P.O. Box 90
Yarmouth, ME 04096
www.cascobay.com/royal/about.htm

Presumpscot River Watch
P.O. Box 1416
Westbrook, ME 04092
www.prw-maine.org