Did you miss the MPA Spring Social? Too bad! The day began with coffee and juice and freshly made donuts and danish from N & J’s of Oxford’s as well as some mudslide brownies and other fancy pastries from BJ’s Wholesale Club and lots of smiles and greetings in the Dining Hall of the YMCA Camp Blanchard facility. This year the Social took a serious tone with less talk and more learning about the steps the MPA took this spring to get our dam closed with the flashboards put in May 13th – two months later than usual. The President reported on the conversations, emails and meetings between the officers and directors and with the dam owner, state agencies and officials and the Town Administrators and other town department heads and personnel. The members in attendance were also asked to look at the long term – a ballot vote was taken as to the next option we would formally pursue to avoid low waterlevels in the future. To end the meeting, Donna Williams of the Blackstone River Coalition spoke of the groups initiatives, Manchaug Ponds’s water test results as a tributary feeding the Blackstone and ways towns and individuals can …
More on the Fish Kill and the Negative Impacts of Low Waterlevel
The MPA spoke again with the biologist, Richard Hartley, from Mass Fish and Game as property owners around the lake report dead fish continue to wash ashore. Specifically, he said we can expect this to take several weeks to run its course. No need to report more dead fish as they have record of the kill. We should call Mass Wildlife if we observe something new or a change in the composition of the kill – for example: all ages of fish not just adults and/or a majority of another species other than bluegills. He also said that this summer we may see smaller kills as our waterlevel is low and shallow areas have great weed growth (The dam owner kept the water exceptionally high this winter failing to do the lake level drawdown for aquatic weed control which they have done for years) which will mean depressed O2 levels in the early morning hours in the cove areas. In addition to more fish kills, other amphibians are in jeopardy as is evident with our spring peepers. These tiny frogs reproduce in the cove areas which act as vernal pools (wet in spring and dry in summer). Having been dry …
Wednesday Night’s Storm
Manchaug Pond was not hard hit – very little rain here with other towns getting downpours and suffering loss of electricity from downed trees and limbs and lightening strikes from the thunderstorm which rolled in during the night. Don S. of Area 5 reported in on Wednesday with an exact reading from his wind gauge that we had hit 39.5 mph at midnight as the storm blasted by. That registers us as an 8 on the Beaufort Scale – a “Fresh Gale!” Further, Don explained that the wind speed during the day on the lake is about 12 mph and the most he has seen at his home in Paxton is 22.5 mph. The storm brought us up to 39.5 with very little rain and some lightening. Check out the Beaufort Scale yourself. It even lists the type of damage you can expect at the various wind speeds. For example 55 mph would up root trees and cause “considerable structural damage.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale The uprooted tree pictured is seen near Camp Blanchard and is from a previous storm. It’s shallow root system on the rocky shore is very visible. Don’t forget the Spring Social at Camp Blanchard tomorrow morning!
Fish Kill Numbers over 150
It has been a busy week with litle time for blog posting but lots to talk about and report. On the fish kill – Our 1st Vice President walked the end of Area 1 which extends from Bachand’s cottage to Bronson’s – the stretch on Manchaug Road next to the lake where there are no houses and is the location of “the big rock.” 116 fish. She also saw 3 at the boat ramp and 4 at her home. I walked the Sutton side of the old causeway to find 18 fish (14 bluegills, 1 calico bass, 1 white perch and a yellow perch) The yellow perch was upside down and still breathing but I counted him as he did not look long for this world. Wednesday- 3 on the beach including the first horn’d pout I see to add to the original 8 and 3 more the next day, the neighbor’s 9, my daughter’s 2 on the opposite shore, the President’s 3 in the opposite cove. That brings my total up to 169 plus what you might have picked up. The wind had been blowing to this shore so by far their are more on the eastern shores. Our …
Fish Kill after the pollen cleared
Here’s a link to learn how to identify the freshwater fish species in Manchaug Pond: http://newenglandsportfishermen.com/freshfish.htm More fish kill photos: Did any one want close-ups? ugh!
Reporting a Fish Kill
This is how the water front looks today. 25 ft back I could smell the dead fish. At least 8 fish dead at first glance: My husband identified 3 white perch, a pickerel, a bass, yellow perch, and a few kivers. Another neighbor told us he had 9. In all my years here, I never remember it looking this gross. I called Mass Wildlife as they had just sent out their monthly e-newletter with a blurb on REPORTING FISH KILLS. The dispatcher had a biologist call me within minutes. The biologist, Todd Richards, said it is good to report the kills so that the state can record it and get a history on what is going on. He himself knows Manchaug Pond as he likes to ice fish here. 🙂 He said if the kill is under 100 fish, wait and call the office Monday morning. Specifically, biologist look at three things: 1. multi species 2. large numbers and 3. if they are still dying, in trying to determine a cause. Talking it through with him, we could eliminate pollution – the yellow stuff is harmless pollen from the white pine trees. (I have a degree in horticulture so I …
Next Saturday, June 14th, 9-Noon – ANNUAL SPRING SOCIAL
(photo taken at the August 2004 MPA Annual Meeting & Picnic – No names please and I did not get permission to post this photo so if one of you three mind – let me know and I’ll remove it immediately. Thanks.) Well, you may have heard about it in the mailing with the info on the Healthy Lawns worshop and the Spring Clean-up, or read it earlier on this blog, or saw the signs posted around the lake roads, or maybe the postcard is in your mailbox today … if not, here it is again – a notice for the MPA ANNUAL SPRING SOCIAL! MPA Members are invited to come together for our Annual Spring Social!Over a coffee and danish in the YMCA Dining Hall, this year’s conversation will focus on the water level and the water quality of our lake. 9:00 – Make and renew friendships with lake neighbors over coffee and danish. 9:30 – What’s with the Waterlevel! MPA President Dave Schmidt will give an overview as to why the change in the waterlevel this spring; highlighting our cooperative efforts with the Town of Sutton, the Office of Dam Safety, and the Governor’s Administration with DEP to …
Manchaug Pond Mentioned in Fishing Article
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080527/NEWS/805270806/1009/SPORTS Here’s an article, brought to my attention by our 1st Vice President, which mentions Manchaug Pond as it comments on the effect gas prices are having on the fishing tournaments. Funny as I had forgotten about the price of gas for boats… the past two weekends we have seen little traffic from the boat ramp and it made me wonder if it was the lower waterlevel, the windy days we have been having, the never ending forecasts of bad weather the weather men keep giving… I should have thought about gas prices as our MPA President did mention putting $98 worth in his boat for the Memorial Day weekend. At my house we are not motorboating yet and it has been too windy for the canoe!
Saturday Morning – Cleaning!
While the weatherman predicted rain for this morning it never happen until afternoon. Another missed shot for the waterlevel to go up. But the sunshine provided a great time for my husband to help one of the son-in-laws figure out why his boat motor wouldn’t keep running. Taking the cover off revealed a nest tucked nicely inside the motor. Above and to the left of the nest is a yellow wire which was chewed right off with about 3 inches missing! But the bulk of the nest filled the front of that engine! Incredible! Once he vacuumed it all out with the shop vacuum, replaced the wire and put the covers back on, it started right up! Now the son-in-law just needs to repair his dock which was damage this winter by the ice of an unusually high waterlevel. (He’s on the Douglas side in Area 7-8 where the waterlevel is higher than on our opposite shore.)
A View from the MPA Board Meeting
This was the view tonight from the MPA Board of Directors meeting which overlooks scenic Manchaug Pond. Our third meeting this month, called by the MPA President, to bring the eighteen member Board together seeking their input and direction as to issues including the low water level issue, the dam and the water quality grant. This month has been a steady press of daily phone calls and meetings with local and state officials informing them of the situaion here on Manchaug Pond and securing their help. The continued focus of the President and his Board of Directors the past months has been two fold: the short term success of getting the waterlevel at the appropriate level for the season and secondly, for the long term, addressing the future control of the Manchaug Pond dam. The MPA extends its sincere appreciation to our local officials, our state legislators, the adminitration of Governor Deval Patrick including the Office of Dam Safety and DEP for their continued help on this issue this spring. We also value the open lines of communication provided by the dam owner to the MPA President and property owners in this process as well as our past working relationship …
Blue Skies, Wind and NO RAIN!
Sun again. Wind again. (Don, what does your weather station say, as this is not a breeze we are experiencing?!) Although we have had a few showers here and there since the flashboards went in and the gate closed down a bit we are not getting enough to getwater to many docks. I did notice a small pontoon boat went in over theweekend in area 2 of Manchaug Pond and appears to be docked in about 6 inches of water. The sand bar of what used to be Blueberry Island remains exposed….. … and jeez… lets think creatively now! Maybe we should look into hydro and windpower! We did look into hydro power a couple years ago if we were a district and Alternatives Limited has harnessed the power of the Mumford River under a huge grant already! The town of Hull boast the big wind mill powering 500 homes and Sutton’s own King Farm on Central Turnpike now has its own windmill! A week or more of wind has just got to me! Rain is in the forecast for the weekend to help bring the waterlevel up. Evaporation is a concern for June, July and August and then there …
Telegram Reports Whitin District
Tuesday evening the Whitin Reservoir Association went before the Douglas Board of Selectman to prepare for the meeting which will formalize their watershed district. The Board of Selectman set the first meeting of the District for June 16th where a vote of at least 60% of the approximately 140 property owners within the district boundaries is needed to establish the Whitin Reservoir Watershed District. Read of their continued success for yourself 🙂 http://www.telegram.com/article/20080521/NEWS/805210565 (In case you were wondering … I did not take this photo. It is a satellite photo provided by the internet.)