Boaters: please avoid Wilson Lake Research Buoy. Submitted photo

WILTON — As they travel up the lake from the town boat launch in Wilton, boaters may glimpse an attractive red ball floating in a beautiful expanse of lake, with the Tumbledown range rising in the background. Kayakers and others sometimes paddle right up to it, curious about why it’s there. It’s marked UMF/FOWL to indicate the partnership behind it, involving scientists at the University of Maine-Farmington and the Friends of Wilson Lake (FOWL). It also says “Water Quality Research Project.”
Maybe it should also have a sign on it saying: Please stay away!
Unfortunately, some boaters, not knowing about the sensitive gauges under the water, have tied up to it this summer. The buoy is part of an important, long-term research project to track changes in Wilson Lake. Below that buoy are two lines anchoring it to the deepest part of the lake, with measuring devices fastened at regular intervals to record water temperature and dissolved oxygen throughout the year at different depths. Faculty and students from UMF collect and analyze the data periodically to help track water quality and changes in the lake over time.
Interfering with the buoy or careless treatment of its lines might damage the equipment that lies below. So please give that red buoy a wide berth. The Friends of Wilson Lake (FOWL) and the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) hope that the buoy will continue for many years to help them understand how to keep Wilson Lake healthy for the long-term.