Kennebunk River

Watershed Description

The Kennebunk River begins where Lords Brook and Sunken Brook meet in the town of Lyman. To the south, Alewife Pond sits in a 2600-acre area of mixed forest and agricultural land, providing important habitat for waterfowl and wintering deer. The tidal estuary and inland marsh near the mouth of the river also provide waterfowl habitat, as well as preferred habitat for the saltmarsh sparrow. The western portion of the watershed includes sections of the USDA Massabesic Experimental Forest, which includes Atlantic white cedar swamp communities. 

As the river moves through Kennebunk, it passes through an area of dense development and extensive impervious surfaces. This increases stormwater runoff and the associated pollutants that wash into the estuary. Farm and domestic animal waste, as well as human sources (including leach fields) contribute to bacteria levels in the river.

Current Activities (last update: August 2020 )

Water Quality Monitoring

The community has been involved with the Volunteer River Monitoring Program, a program of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), since 2009.

Watershed Management Plan

The York County Soil and Water Conservation District is leading a 2-year (20192021) effort to produce a watershed-based plan for the river. The effort is funded by a Nonpoint-Source grant from Maine DEP and coordinated by FB Environmental. Involved entities include:

• Town of Kennebunk
• Town of Kennebunkport
• Village of Arundel
• Town of Lyman
• Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District
• Maine Department of Environmental Protection
• Maine Healthy Beaches Program
• Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers Alliance
• Natural Resource Conservation Service
• Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve

Learn about the Plan

Resources

• Town of Kennebunk Open Space Plan (2004)
• Kennebunk River Watershed Nonpoint Source Pollution Survey (2010)