Mission

The MDI Water Quality Coalition engages citizens of all ages in preserving and improving the water quality of MDI through meaningful environmental research and community education.

 

Vision

The Mount Desert Island Water Quality Coalition, a nonprofit organization, is supported and driven by island residents, businesses and visitors alike. We believe working cooperatively with the wide diversity of people who have a stake in the quality of MDI's water is the only way to achieve our goals.

Our methods of data collection and presentation adhere to strict scientific standards. As a result, our efforts have earned recognition and credibility throughout the community.

The Coalition is a model for other communities of how to foster a working relationship between students and teachers with community volunteers, engaging them together in the process of solving environmental problems. We have a strong volunteer base because the MDIWQC is a fun, rewarding place for volunteers to invest their time and be effective members of the community. Through the MDIWQC programs, young (and not-so young) people learn about the strength of their voices and achieve a sense of ownership of MDI. This encourages them to sustain community environmental improvements and changed behaviors.

Through community education and outreach, the Coalition strives to help islanders voluntarily change behaviors that could harm MDI's water quality, without the time consuming and financial drain that traditional "top-down" legislative change would involve.

Goals

Goal: Residents and landowners act to protect and improve the quality of the water in their watersheds.

• Share the Eddie Brook Watershed Survey Report (published by the MDI Water Quality Coalition in April 2004) with town governments, local committees, and other organizations that can use the results to develop watershed-friendly ordinances, enforce existing ordinances, and encourage communities to develop watershed protection committees or watershed associations.

• Work with the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District to develop an implementation plan for improvements in the Eddie Brook Watershed.

• Implement watershed study projects in other towns on MDI.

Goal: Areas with recreational water use are safe for water contact activities and remain so.

• Solidify our relationship with the MDI Biological Laboratory to ensure the future of the Community Environmental Health Laboratory where interns, research fellows, and local teachers and students produce and analyze data from water samples collected at local swim areas.

• Encourage and facilitate the full participation of local towns in the Maine Healthy Coastal Beaches program

Goal: Water Quality Data generated through the Community Environmental Health Laboratory is accessible and understandable to Users.

• Continue to maintain quality control in the field and lab so that data is usable.

• Develop systems to manage water quality and project data in a central location.

• Ensure that appropriate individuals and organizations or agencies are receiving or have access to emerging datasets.

Goal: Students in Union 98 and surrounding schools learn about water quality issues as part of their regular science curriculum and engage as citizen scientists in authentic environmental data collection.

• Encourage and facilitate the incorporation of water quality programs (that have been aligned with the Maine State Learning Results) into existing curricula.

• Empower Teachers to take ownership of their own water quality projects.

Goal: MDIWQC has the organizational structure to support goals and achieve mission.

• Develop Committees: Finance, Board Development, Fundraising. Building, Education

• Set up a functional membership database.

• Develop clear organizational structure with job descriptions for staff and board.

Goal: Other local organizations partner with us to carry out water quality related projects and programs that fall outside our mission.

• Identify and work with local organizations that might fund, plan, and /or implement the Hancock County Youth Forum.

• Identify and work with local organizations, individuals (parents), schools (and/or PTAs) that might fund, plan, and /or implement storm drain stenciling.

• Identify and work with local organizations that might fund, plan, and /or implement educational projects related to public health.

Goal: MDIWQC has the funding to support goals and achieve mission.

• Identify supporters from state agencies, foundations, major donors, and corporate arena.

• Develop a long-term funding plan.

• Initiate an endowment campaign.