Deer Isle receives grant to protect freshwater resources

Funding will help local officials develop policies to assure ‘safe and sustainable’ groundwater supply

May 29, 2026

By Staff

DEER ISLE—The Town of Deer Isle has been awarded an $80,000 Community Action grant through the state’s Community Resilience Partnership program to analyze and protect local freshwater resources.  

According to a press release from the town, the grant will allow officials to “develop a better understanding of the course taken by stormwater and develop policies and infrastructure to retain stormwater on the land to the extent possible, to recharge our groundwater.” It will also provide “the additional benefit of protecting [Deer Isle’s] marine estuaries from excess runoff and contamination,” the release said.

In its application, the town said establishing “a better understanding of [our] groundwater” will help local officials to “to develop policies to assure a safe and sustainable supply of groundwater [drinking water] for the future.”

The release said that public participation will be critical to the initiative. Property owners are invited to join the effort by assessing groundwater at their wellheads, the release said, and “to consider new ways to manage stormwater runoff.”

The full grant proposal is available for viewing on the town’s website. For more information, please visit www.deerislemaine.gov/environment.