MAINE PUBLIC • December 14, 2025
Maine's lakes and ponds are a treasured cultural and economic resource. And now for the first time, the state has issued online "scorecards" that show individual water bodies' environmental conditions. Monitors have been collecting data on water quality and other issues for decades, but the information may not be easy for many people to access or interpret, said Jeremy Deeds, with the lakes assessment program at Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Instead, the scorecard indicates how well, or poorly, lakes are faring on issues such as shoreline conditions, water quality, invasive plants and runoff pollution. "What we wanted to do is summarize all these different aspects of lake condition and efficiently convey a picture of lake health," Deeds said. The state has scorecards for about 1,200 Maine lakes and ponds that have the best monitoring data.