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To: Bluedot Living
From: Emily Reddington, Executive Director Great Pond Foundation
Subject: Living Waters, Thriving Island
Change is a natural and inevitable part of life. Our power lies in how we respond to change. Living in a place where nature is at our doorstep is a privilege. If we want to preserve and sustain the life in our waters, making sure that future generations experience the profound beauty and abundance of these vital waters, we need to alter the trajectory of change and prioritize water and watersheds.
We know the challenges facing our ponds, estuaries, and waterways: nutrient pollution and the pressures of a changing climate. What is less clear is what we can do locally to trigger the inflection point that tips our waters back from impairment to a course of restoration.
The actions our community takes in the next decade will have a profound impact on the fate of the Island’s living waters. The land upon which we stand, grow our food, and build our homes is interconnected with the health of our waters. The rate of development is astounding. It is also unsustainable if our terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are to remain intact and functional.
Science and conservation are racing against the clock to save nature; documenting the sources of impairment and preserving native landscapes and waterways. Policy and permitting seem to be lagging behind. Time is of the essence, as the more we do now, the better the outcome of restoration efforts. We need to be nimble, coordinated, informed, and proactive in our response to the crisis facing our waters. We need to be the voice of water, the voice of the ecosystem.
Speak Up
If enough community members speak up and advocate for the fate of our waters at planning board meetings, at conservation hearings, and at annual town meetings, there will be ripples in decision making that spread out like a safety net for our waters. For each change proposed, please consider 1) how it may impact water and watersheds and 2) if those changes fulfill critical needs of the community, as development will always have an environmental consequence.
Helpful
- Leaving nature intact
- Adding a vegetative buffer between the pond and landscaped areas
- Putting nature back (adding native plants to the landscape)
- Reducing or eliminating fertilizer
- Connecting to sewer
- Installing nitrogen reducing septic systems
Harmful
- Removing intact nature
- Creating impervious surfaces (paving, pool, roofs)
- Producing nitrogen runoff from wastewater
- Producing nitrogen runoff from fertilizer
- Adding pollutants from landscape (herbicides, drugs, heavy metals)
- Creating run-off or erosion
We all have a part to play in the protection of our waters. As a small organization, Great Pond Foundation (GPF) must be very thoughtful about how to have the most positive impact on the Island’s waters. Over the past several years, in collaboration with the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, we have been measuring the concentration of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) entering ponds via groundwater, identifying its source (wastewater vs. agriculture), and locating high-concentration nitrogen plumes.
When we find nitrogen hot spots, we identify the best places to deploy mitigation technologies and maximize nitrogen reduction.
GPF’s work models a path forward for ponds across the Island: monitoring the health of our ponds, identifying concentrated nutrient plumes (source of impairment), and working with pond communities to incorporate recent data into management and remediation activities. Living waters are the heart of the Island’s spirit and economy. The focus of our Foundation’s work is keeping the life in our waters, because with living waters the Island thrives.
Learn more about Great Pond Foundation (including getting involved or contributing).
