The Mission
On May 5th, 2024, in honor of National Drinking Water Week, photographer Andy Gagne and writer Jenny O'Connell embarked on a paddling expedition from Bethel, Maine, to Casco Bay, kayaking 100 miles with a small team of local adventurers and environmentalists. Our mission was to transport our audience into the watershed, demonstrating how the rivers, forests and wildlife are all so connected to the faucet, and to highlight the unique and creative ways people are working together to protect this water source for future generations.
This adventure takes place on the unceded ancestral lands of the Wabanaki people. It begins in the mountains, on Songo Pond in Bethel. Following the Crooked River, we wind our way to Sebago Lake. Continuing down the Presumpscot River, we complete our trip in Casco Bay, 100 miles from the start.
Along the way, as well as in the weeks surrounding our river trip, we spend a lot of time listening to the people who are connected to the watershed. We visit a spawning site for Atlantic salmon with a wildlife biologist, climb aboard a boat for a water monitoring trip with Portland Water District scientists, discuss Maine breweries’ reliance on the watershed over a beer with Allagash Brewing’s sustainability coordinator, hear from a First Nations poet and environmental activist about the cultural and spiritual importance of protected waterways, and meet with Sebago Clean Waters and participating land trusts as well as Friends of the Presumpscot River and Friends of Casco Bay about their work in river, ocean, and watershed protection.
The story that emerges paints a compelling picture of just how connected we all are — people, river, ocean, land — and how all of us are needed to speak up for clean water.
Our experience and learnings were documented though a collaborative of storytelling disciplines.
Video Documentary: Maine Mountain Media. (See video below)
Writing: Jenny O'Connell.
- Read Jenny's recent essay of her experience here.
- NRS Blog.
Photography: Andy Gagne. (See project photography below)
We are thrilled to share "Follow the Water", Maine Mountain Media’s short documentary that follows our 100-mile source to sea journey down a vital Maine watershed!
Upcoming Screenings:
Join us at the Maine Outdoor Film Festival!
What: Maine outdoor Film Festival!
When: July 24th 2025
Time: 2pm
Location: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D's Osher Hall, 522 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101 (Google Maps Link)
Price: $10
The Watershed
The Sebago Lake watershed provides over 200,000 households–1 in 6 Mainers–with clean drinking water. The forests around Sebago Lake act as a natural filtration system, making it one of the top 50 cleanest water drinking supplies in the U.S. and a conservation hotspot. Losing just 8% of the watershed’s forests to development could have huge consequences for Maine’s clean drinking water. It’s a rare environmental story where humans haven't yet destroyed the natural system...but the threat is real.
Meet The Team
Alex Kerney
Alex Kerney works at the Gulf Of Maine Research Institute as a Web Application Developer on the Ocean Data Products team. The team shares their lab and field research with the surrounding communities of the Gulf of Maine and beyond.
Alex has years of experience leading wilderness trips for Chewonki and other organizations around Maine. Sailing, sea kayaking, and rowing are Alex's preferred methods to explore the waters of the Gulf of Maine, but just as often you can find him further up the watersheds on his skis, whitewater kayak, or mountain bike.
In his free time, he's also been working on building his own water level gauge to know when there is water to paddle. Yet another way for him to combine work and play.
Jenny O'Connell
Jenny’s Award-winning outdoor adventure and environmental writing has appeared in magazines across the country. Her debut memoir-in-progress, Finding Petronella, traces her solo trek across Finland following the footsteps of a legendary woman beyond the Arctic Circle.
Jenny’s fifteen years as an outdoor guide have brought her all over the globe leading backpacking, sea kayaking, cultural exchange, winter adventure, and river expeditions from the Peruvian Andes to the wild waters of Maine, igniting her passion and resolve to advocate for wild places and strengthen the connection between humans and the natural world through the creative arts.
Andy Gagne
Andy Gagne is a professional photographer based in Norway Maine.
Andy has combined over a decade of working in the outdoor industry with professional photography. You can often find him mountain biking, skiing, and kayaking with a camera in hand.
He’s most passionate about creating images to help promote local environmental and recreation based organizations. Much of his published work focuses on inclusivity in the outdoor space.
When Andy moved to Norway in 2016 he was quickly drawn to the Crooked River watershed where he spends much of his time, paddling, fly fishing and mountain biking. His curiosity and connection to the river has evolved into this project.
Charlotte Nutt
When Charlotte was 4 years old, the entire Nutt family embarked on a sailing circumnavigation of the globe that took 6 years. Upon returning to Maine, Charlotte held onto her curiosity, compassion, and love of the outdoors--especially water. Her interests took her through a double major degree in geology and economics and a master's in public policy.
She now works for the Midcoast Council of Governments as a GIS and Data Planner assisting municipalities in their data pursuits. Seeing that so much environmentalism and activism happens on the town level,
Charlotte has decided to run for state representative to the Maine House and will be on the ballot in November 2024. In the state legislature, she hopes to support Maine rural towns in a myriad of planning issues including conservation. You can learn more about her at her campaign website www.charlotteformaine.com.
