At this year’s Annual Meeting, 63 members were on hand to see the new equipment being used in an on-lake water quality monitoring program. Michael Bronson introduced the new initiative of the Manchaug Pond Foundation which renews past testing and expands current efforts.
Earlier this year, William Langlois, team leader of the Weed Watchers/Aquatic Plant Survey Teams and a member of the Board of Directors, secured Board approval and an appropriation for the purchase of equipment and the April through October testing.
The team of 4 tests the second Saturday of the month, April through October, monitoring for clarity/turbitiy, water temperature at every meter, and total phosphorous at the surface, middle and bottom.
Additionally a member of the team also volunteers as a Manchaug Pond monitor for the Blackstone River Coalition watershed-wide monitoring program which tests monthly in three locations in the Manchaug Pond watershed monitoring the aesthetics which include turbidity, water appearance, presence of trash and nuisance aquatic vegetation as well as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients of orthophosphate and nitrates.
Here are some results from July and August. Watch your mailbox for your next issue of the newsletter, Splash! which provides details of the project. If you are not on our mailing list, join today!