The Sutton Conservation Commission and MassDEP are to thank for bringing our waterlevel up this spring and summer. Mandating the dam owner keep to the historic 1930 rule curve has resulted in our lake coming back to life. My daughters have found frog eggs, salamanders, and crayfish once again while my neighbor down the road says her spring peepers are back. She says her shore has been invaded by a horrible amount of invasive weeds, but her frogs are back. I’m happy for her. Wish I could say the same as mine have not returned. Spring peepers have sung their songs in the wetlands behind my house every year since I’ve been here. All my children have gone to sleep to the sounds of crickets and peepers. The change in the water level dried the cove and wetlands last year. And now Something new has moved in which I haven’t yet met or identified. Haven’t seen it. We just hear them loud and clear – 4 -5 of them calling to each other and their seems to be some off in the distance. There is also another sound with a twangy bullfroggy sound. Listen to the video/podcast and tell me …
Trout Stream Magic! We Were There!
Brookie. Square Tail. Brook Trout. Salvelinus fontinalis. Have you ever seen one? They are in our watershed in two unnamed tributaries running into Manchaug Pond. Have been for years. (sorry this is not Manchaug’s brook trout.) Trout was the topic of a recent workshop (see my earlier post) sponsored by Massachusetts Audubon at Broad Meadow Brook facility and Trout Unlimited. Audubon’s Donna Williams and 3 members of Trout Unlimited presented strategies to save our coldwater fisheries. (a Manchaug watershed coldwater fishery!) Here’s a few ideas:* Don’t cut trees along trout streams as they keep it cool – trout need the water temperature under 68 degrees F. * Rocks in the stream create riffles which add oxygen to the water. * Vegetation along the shoreline and hanging in the water is also needed as it provides a home for trout food – insects, etc. * Maintain a vegetative cover over the soil to prevent erosion. * Avoiding applying or disposing of fertiizers, pesticides and other chemicals near the stream. They are toxic to the fish. * Avoid practices that change the flow of the stream. The workshop also provided a demonstration in fly tying was also given, with books on hand …
The Value of Water: Part two – Alternatives Unlimited
“Alternatives tried to sell the site about three years ago. When no buyer materialized, the company’s executives decided to stay and to transform the 37,000 square feet of space into an attraction for the local community. “We thought maybe we could create this community treasure,” said Dennis H. Rice, executive director of Alternatives, sitting in a small board room overlooking the river, as a backhoe outside continued construction work that began in June. “There was an idea this should be a community asset,” Austin said. The complex, set on about an acre that slopes down to the river, will feature a restaurant, performing arts and artists’ space, shops, and a large plaza at the water’s edge that can host concerts, a farmers’ market, or other events.” “Now the historic mill complex that started the Whitin family’s empire in milling and manufacturing is on the cutting edge again. Work is under way to convert the four-building brick complex into a green site that combats rising oil and gas costs with a combination of solar, geothermal, and hydropower energy. “This will generate 88 percent of the energy needs on site, and 100 percent of its heating and cooling,” said Jonathan Austin of …
Spawning Fish Enjoy 2009 Waterlevel and Quiet Shores
Thanks to the efforts of MassWildlife, the Sutton Conservation Commission, MassDEP, etc. (and the MPA!) our fish are happy. Last year’s low waterlevel and fishkill are just an unpleasant memory. This photo of bluegills guarding their nests was taken June 4th of this year… … here is the same area today. Male bluegills swimming in small circles around and around the edge of their nests while females hang to the outer areas. Nesting areas like these are in the shallow quiet water along the shore in 1 to 3 feet of water. With Manchaug Pond’s higher seasonal population and a large part of the shoreline protected, ideal habitat for spawning fish is common. 60% of the homes are summer camps/cottages with residents typically moving in for weekends after Memorial Day when warmer weather settles or after the children are out of school. Favorable for nests is the gravelly bottom where males build the nests. Once ready, females move onto the nests depositing 40,000 or more eggs, and then males protect until the eggs hatch. Bluegills are able to lay eggs more than once a season and may do so a couple times until the water cools again in the fall. …
MPA 319 Grant Update
It is always exciting to see more progress with the grant! This is Site #1 which is a Gabion Wier with sediment trap underneath. This will filter the nutrients in the water coming down off the hill before the water gets discharged into the lake. The annual pollutant removal of this site is 1,275 lbs. of Total Suspended Solids, 1.48 lbs. Phosphorous and 6.15 lbs. of Nitrogen. The MPA would like to thank the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection for the 319 NPS Grant as well as the Sutton and Douglas Towns and Highway Departments for all their work making the upgrades possible!
Big Rock/Little Rock
Here is “Big Rock” now “Little Rock” as of 4 PM today >`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸>¸.·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. >`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸> with healthy and happy fish this year!
“Which big rock, we have a million of them!!!!!”
I received this email today in response to a comment left yesterday on the last post: …they want a picture of “big rock”? Which big rock, we have a million of them!!!!! So true, so true! Here is the one and only “Big Rock” as it appears on May 18, 2009: With the rain of the past week or so, 1/4″ to start, 2″ then one 1″ and another 1 plus yesterday and today the lake has come up and I noticed yesterday The Big Rock was still showing. Sunday a duck was using it as it’s own private island – about 6 inches and it will be under. I’ll get a photo for you tomorrow.
Another Reason to Preserve Manchaug Pond and the Watershed
On our way home from a cookout this evening, we came upon this resident of the Manchaug Pond watershed over on the Douglas side of the lake. This deer had visited my daughter’s home only yesterday, walking just a few feet from the house while they were all inside quietly waking up from naps. The gentle, quiet of this deer grazing in the green of the woods calls to us to work a little harder to protect this wonderful habitat. When I called to tell her, she said a grey fox had just pasted through her yard. Wildlife abounds here in the Douglas and Sutton woods! Past efforts of Manchaug Pond Association members, friends in the watershed and the town have resulted in the conservation of Waters Farm and the lands along the shore of the pond donated to the Sutton Conservation Commission and the beginning of the Lake Manchaug Greenway and Wildlife Corridor linking the Douglas State Forest with the Sutton State Forest and Purgatory Chasm. Check out the link of the Metacomet Land Trust to see a map of these lands. Looking further into Douglas to the southwest you can see the Douglas State Forest http://www.metacometlandtrust.org/Protected.html Click on …
SHh!! Don’t Tell Anyone…
…it is a beautifully calm, sunny day on Manchaug Pond! This photo was taken last night from Manchaug Road, Sutton. Like a mirror!
“Green” Asphalt Installed at Manchaug Pond State Ramp
Our state public access boat ramp continues to be modernized, this time with the latest in paving material: pervious or permeable pavers or porous pavement. The idea of the pavers is to capture runoff allowing it to filter into the ground before it gets to the lake. This keeps pollutants such as gas and oil drips from vehicles as well as the salts from road sand and other pollutants from flowing directly into the lake. The water flowing into the ground also recharges groundwater supplies which are important to maintaining our drinking watersupplies/private wells and water levels of the lakes and tributaries. Filtering the water directly improves water quality and reduces or eliminates weed beds in the lake and around the shoreline. So this porous pavement allows the rain and water flowing down the ramp from the parking area to hit this area and flow water through it! How is this new technology possible? Partnerships: Federal monies from EPA and the Clean Water Act, state administered through MassDEP’s s.319 NonPoint Source Pollution Grant Program, with local partnerships with the lake association securing and administering the grant and providing volunteer time and resources and the Towns of Sutton and Douglas providing …
Telegram Reporter Misses Story of Manchaug Pond
The Worcester Telegram correspondent missed the article on Manchaug Pond by a long shot. She got caught up in the dam owner’s latest effort to be rid of their last piece of Massachusetts real estate. Consulting her previous contacts with the Whitins Reservoir Watershed District and citing one report made to Sutton Selectman, she fails to report recent efforts and rulings of those champions of the 380* acre lake: the Sutton Conservation Commission, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Mass Wildlife, Douglas Conservation Commission, our local legislators, the courts and the people of Manchaug Pond and their association. (Additionally the Telegram file photo of Manchaug Pond was submitted by our MPA Vice President 2 years ago when we announced the award of the s.319 EPA/DEP NonPoint Source Pollution Grant.) Are we to panic about their INTENT to breach? No. The dam owner announced they were exploring the option to breach at least 2 years ago when they decided to relocate the mill operation and sell the properties. The MPA then and now continues to work solidly and methodically to protect the lake and resolve the dam ownership issue. Have we asked Whitin’s district to save us, or “solve the problem” – …
A Perfect Day…
Beautiful sunshine, a nice breeze, with rain in the forecast… a perfect day to get things done. A perfect day to… … survey the Lake!! Today, two boats from two different companies – one hired by the Manchaug Pond Association, the other hired by the dam owner – one looking to improve the lake, the other looking to cut the size of the lake by half. … attend a lovely garden reception!! … check out the water level!! … rest awhile!! ( female Widow Skimmer – Libellula luctuosa resting on iris) … try out a kayak!! … stop and smell the flowers!! (Mountain Laurel – Kalmia latifolia)