How much are the Belgrade Lakes worth?

The question has been tackled by a team of researchers who say that the results of their work can help policy makers weigh the seven lake system against competing demands for financial resources.

A preliminary report is expected to be completed next week, although a final figure won’t be available until next year.

“The goal is to get a sense of how much income is flowing through the region, and how many jobs the resource supports,” said Michael Donihue, an economics professor at Colby College.

No one knows the true value of the seven lake water system, but “it will be millions of dollars, for sure,” Donihue said. The system comprises East Pond, Great Pond, Long Pond, McGrath Pond, Messalonskee Lake, North Pond and Salmon Lake.

When the study’s results are published, legislators, town officials and economic development agencies in the region will be able to draw on it for policy decision, grant applications and as a market resource for potential businesses in the area.

Charlie Baeder, executive director of the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance, said that the information will help the environmental group to get grants for things such as land purchases.

In addition, he said, it can help local municipalities understand the value of lake health programs, such as one that targets invasive milfoil.

“One of the arguments we make for invasive plants is that the tax base of many of these communities is tied, at least in part, to the value of the lakeshore properties,” Baeder said, “so the study will help us to make our case to the towns.”

Baeder said that the hard data in a study like this one can reach well beyond the environmental community.

“Even if they don’t see the environmental value, they absolutely see the financial and tax-base value,” he said.

And when a community doesn’t understand and take care of a natural resource like a lake, Donihue said, it can pay a steep price.

“Think of the lakes in New Jersey that are choked with milfoil. You can’t even take a boat on them,” he said.

“There are lakes across the country that people no longer visit because the quality has gone down.”

Understanding the Belgrade Lakes watershed, which covers 13 municipalities and approximately 180 square miles, can be difficult because it cuts across established boundaries.

“You can do one for cities or counties. Those are a lot easier to understand,” Donihue said. “This is a little bit harder. It’s a regional approach to economic analysis.”

The study is part of the Belgrade Lakes Watershed Sustainability Project, a multi-year effort involving more than a dozen people from Colby and a series of environmental organizations that seeks to analyze and preserve the lakes.

For months, Donihue has been sending out waves of household surveys asking hundreds of area residents about their demographics, health, income and expenditures.

Donihue said that the model will be a big step forward from other similar attempts to describe the value of the lakes.

“There are other economic impacts out there. Many of them are based on estimates from similar watersheds around the country,” he said. “You’re stuck saying, ‘this is sort of like that.’ Some of them are really dated.”

Baeder said that the demographic and health information will also help area environmental groups to expand their mission and have more involvement with the community.

“The health profile of the community would be helpful,” he said.

“One of the angles that we’re thinking about longer term is how conservation and health organizations could work together, and how we could provide recreational outdoor opportunities,” he said.