Plenty of the Eagle but NO Flashboards

This afternoon the eagle spent quite a bit of time on the old causeway (high and dry) eating a fish. Crows came in to join in the feast, but annoyed – he/she flew off. I watched him fly about two feet above the water, across the lake – the large, powerful wings solidly and deliberately working to bring the eagle decidedly on Blueberry Island. Photos – none. Sadly, I stood on shore amazed at the beauty but empty handed wishing I could capture at least one photo to share with you – but there my youngest daughter stood front row center at the channel’s edge watching it all with my Canon PowerShot G9 in her hand – but no photos. Ugh. No flashboards today either. April 1 was the deadline date for flashboards to go in. The dam owner did not come through for us nor for the environment here on Manchaug Pond. April 2nd puts other wheels in motion. We have had meetings, emails and phone calls just in case our dam owner didn’t pursue other options. Like the eagle’s wings, we will continue to work consciously and deliberately to achieve the short term goal of getting the flashboards …

Weds-Public Hearing; Thursday – April Showers; Friday – Longing for Flashboards

Wednesday – A Public Hearing has been scheduled by the Sutton Conservation Commission for tomorrow evening. I read about it in the local newspaper, seems it’s just some housekeeping/updating/ tightening up of some language and the addition of a definition with the local wetland regulation. No need to attend. I understand they have photos like these three below on file. This is the inlet of Manchaug Pond as it is today. Typically at this time of year the water is high, the land is under water. Without the flashboards being in, the lake is drying up. You can see the bank at the edge of the woods. You can see the docks in the distance. The area is usually water not field and stone. Holbrook’s Cove is famous for great turtle hunting, bullfrogs, those singing peepers, ducks, herons, dragonflies and a whole host of creatures. Our three oldest children and their cousins used to take the canoe in to hunt for snapping turtles – They’d come back to camp with some so big they’d struggled to lift him! (Don’t worry it was all catch and release – just for the sport of it!) A lake is a great place to …

MORE DEAD: Clam Shells Litter State Boat Ramp

Update April, 2009: Mass DCR confirmed identification as Asian Clam, a new infestation localized at the state boat ramp. 14 Massachusetts lakes have been identified as having Asian Clam.  Correct timing of the winter drawdown of the waterlevel can be employed as a successful, no-cost method of control for this young infestation of the exotic, non-native invasive species. Posted March 30, 2009. Reports of shells at the state ramp came in from a fisherman and from a member of the Manchaug Pond Association Board of Directors who lives a few houses up from the State Ramp. Upon further investigation, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny empty shells appeared on the shore and in the shallow water aside of the launch area at the State Boat Ramp on Torrey Road, Sutton. Photos below, taken March 20 and 22, 2009, show teeny tiny shells – open and empty. Perhaps Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminca)- Since we have not encountered before, clearly not the larger native mussel common to Manchaug Pond, and the location found is the state boat ramp strongly suggest it was brought in from a visiting boat from another lake which has the exotic invasive species. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and …

Still Painting… the Flashboards and the Gentleman’s Agreement

Here’s the Manchaug Pond Dam as it looked Friday. Looks good doesn’t it! That’s the “spillway.” The light gray of the new mortar provides good contrast against the blue lake, not to mention the starkness of the trees. Dam owner Interface Global/Guilford of Maine/Manchaug Reservoir Corp tells us in the August, 2008 Sutton NOI (Notice of Intent) that the dam “is a composite rubble masonry and earth-filled structure approximately 330 feet long and 28 feet high. The upstream face is of stepped rubble masonry construction. Originally built in 1854, the dam was reconstructed in 1960 when earthfill at a slope of 2 to 1 was added to cover the downstream surface of the dam. There are two outlet control devices: a spillway and a low level outlet. The spill way, a concrete box culvert, 9.35 feet high has a fixed crest width of 10.0 feet at elevation 515.90. The crest has slots to accommodate 2.70 foot high flashboards. The low level outlet, located near the right abutment, is equipped with a mechanical hand-operated gate which has an opening 2 feet by 2 feet.” (see page 10 of Operations Plan for Low Flow Augmentation Program, Mumford River, East Douglas, Mass.) Further, …

Today’s Painters: Eagles Visiting Manchaug Pond!

Things are looking up today…. Two eagles were spotted on Manchaug Pond this morning: an adult and an immature. The adult is easy to spot with its white head and tail feathers while the young lack the white feathers. Mary Griffin, Commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Game reported seventy eagles were spotted during the one-day survey held this past January. If you remember from January through March of 2007, eagles were a common sight on Manchaug Pond: 1 adult and two young spent months fishing and soaring over Manchaug and Steven’s Ponds.Check the blog archives to see what we reported in 2007! They are a magnificent sight – and paint a majestic picture! (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/ file 2008) For more information:http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/wildlife/index.php?subject=Birds:%20Species&id=51 http://www.firstlightpower.com/eagles/eaglevid.asp The first photo is courtesy of First Light Power Resources

Today’s Picture: State Public Access Boat Ramp

One lone bass boat is fishing this side of the causeway. Lots of rocks in Manchaug. Rocks where you launch, rocks in the channel, and rocks around the shore. Actually, they’re boulders. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/pab/pab_schedevents.htmScroll down….. does your club have a tournament next month on Manchaug Pond? 2007 the MPA compiled a list of 25 clubs with a combined membership of over 430 members who scheduled weekend events on Manchaug Pond from the state Public Access Ramp. Big bass clubs aren’t the only organized groups but also canoe and kayak clubs. This year the season starts April 19 with the Lip Rippers Bass Club with 16 members and the Bass Pigs with 20 members on the 26th. Just a quick scan through the list shows a lot of new clubs we didn’t record in 2007 – I mean just the first two are names you don’t forget! That alone is a lot of people accessing Manchaug Pond through the ramp – not to mention the recreational boaters skiing, tubing, etc who don’t belong to clubs, and all those that come during the week without a permit. Here’s photos from 2005, of a few of the many members of a RI canoe/kayak club …

You Ask…Paint a picture…

Paint a picture you ask… This morning the lake is calm. Like a mirror, it reflects the blues of the sky, the grays and browns of the shoreline rocks and trees and the occasional burst of white or pale color from a shoreline cottage. The migrating ducks have arrived this month – the shy Common Mergansers with their distinctive red beak, black heads and back and white sides – a regular sight these past few weeks as they are each year in their small flock. A couple Wood ducks, some Hooded Mergansers, and a few Golden Eyes have also been seen by our 1st Vice President. Buffleheads, and others will soon join them. As spring bursts forward, we’ll find the red buds of the maples, the new green of foliage and the yellow of the marsh marigolds and other wetlands flowers in the watershed. Spring will also bring the metallics of bass boats, neons of kayaks and the sights and sounds of an active lake community. … One can paint a number of pictures of the various scenarios that can unfold… Personally, I would like to see our dam owner, Interface Global, comply with the Sutton Conservation Commission’s Order of …

Sutton Order of Conditions DEP # 303-0669

Late yesterday, the Sutton Conservation Commission released the long awaited for Order of Conditions for Interface Global’s Notice of Intent – DEP # 303-0669 which seeks to bring the water level down 3 1/2 feet plus and reduce the acreage by 55+ acres. The Order is 13 pages long plus support material of 7 attachments from engineers, MRC letters, and water level graphs, etc… I have to say I was not confident as to its contents, but the Order does uphold the Wetlands Protection Act, does put mechanisms in place to ensure communication up and downstream and does acknowledge the well-maintained condition of the dam. Here’s a quick look at the Special Conditions on page 11 1. “Applicant shall maintain water levels generally in accordance with the Historic Rule Curve developed in the 1930’s and used throughout operations of the dam through early 2008, and shall maintain water levels at, but no higher than the, Historic and Operational Rule Curve in a manner similiar to the dam’s recent history of operations;” 2. “….. install a standard staff gauge…. 40-50 feet beyond it downstream….” 3. “Applicant shall release water generally in accordance with the advanced flow regime…Mumford Low Flow Study…” 4. …

The Dam is Well-Maintained

Questions were raised as to the actual condition of the dam. Here’s a list of some repairs and upgrades which were noted by the dam owner in the process before the Sutton Conservation Commission. November, 2008: Routine maintenance – mow downstream face, debris from the drain lines, seal gap between spillway box and stone masonry, repair spillway floor and expansion joints, repoint upstream face above waterlevel. September, 2008: Improvements to the cage around the gate. October, 2006: Replacement and updating of the low-level gate. (see slideshow at top right) 2005: Repair to spillway concrete box culvert. 1960: Extensive changes with the crest widened and raised and the downstream embankment was constructed. 1836: Original construction.

Manchaug Dam Hearing Weds 3/18 at 8:00

Weds., March 18th 8:00 p.m. continued public hearing for the Manchaug Pond Dam. See you there! The documents presented at March 4th’s public hearing including the dam owner’s revised Operation & Maintenance Plan and rule curve look to: * reduce the lake 65 acres from 360 acres to 295 acres! * take the peak water level down 3 1/2 – 4 + feet from over 519elevation to 515.4 (significant for a pond with a mean depthof 13 ft.) and even lower in fall and spring! * impact 100% of the bank or 5 1/2 miles of shoreline which providesspawning area, wetland habitats, etc.! * disconnect coldwater tributaries, one of which is documentedhabitat for native brook trout by Mass Fisheries & Wildlife! * adversely impact private wells around the lake! * cut off public access to the Great Pond! Wednesday, March 18th at 8:00 p.m. Sutton Conservation Commission – Continuance of Public Hearing on Manchaug Reservoir Corp revised NOI for Manchaug Reservoir. DEP # 303-0669(How about that new slideshow! What do you think? Leave a comment!)

Whitin Reservoir Dam – Monday Night before DCC

Monday, March 16th, at 8:45 p.m. the Whitin Reservoir Dam, belonging to Manchaug’s sister lake – the Douglas Res., is on the agenda of the Douglas Conservation Commission as dam owner Mumford River Reservoir Corp proposes to reduce its size and waterlevel. Weds, March 18th, at 8:00 p.m. before the Sutton Conservation Commission, MRC’s Public Hearing on proposed reduction of Manchaug Pond continues.

Douglas Conservation Commission Mtg. – Part II

As I reported earlier, the MPA received a written invitation to come before the Douglas Conservation Commission to discuss conservation issues where they specifically asked our assistance in passing the word as to what activities fall under the Wetlands Protection Act and what ones do not. At the Monday, March 2nd DCC meeting, the commission gave us a three fold brochure they had put together and offered a forum for us all to talk about the association, its efforts and hopes for Manchaug Pond. In a relaxed atmosphere we were specifically able to thank the town of Douglas for completing their road work at two sites which is part of the 319 grant to reduce pollution/stormwater, report on the educational efforts of our exhibit, cleanups and workshops of 2008 and look to enlisting their involvement in future grant opportunities focused on water quality and watershed involvement and conservation. The brochure is available on our website in pdf form at http://manchaugpondassociation.org/news.html and will be sent to our mailing listing in the weeks ahead. For our many readers who are not at the lake in winter, you can view the Douglas meetings online as well as check out agendas and minutes yourself! …