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Through workshops, collaboration, and public engagement, the Lagoon Pond Association is protecting one of the Island’s most threatened water resources.
Lagoon Pond is in hot water (pun intended). Excess nitrogen and climate change are threatening the Island's water bodies, including Lagoon Pond, which are a vital part of the Vineyard’s ecological and economic fabric.
The Lagoon Pond Association (LPA) is working to protect and enhance the health of the lagoon by educating the public, collaborating with other conservation organizations, and offering opportunities for Vineyarders to help — whether by contributing financially, by serving as citizen scientists who conduct water quality monitoring, or simply by making changes to anything in their own lives that might have an impact on pond health.
“We are always looking to help the pond, in both the short term and the long term,” President of the LPA, Sherry Countryman, told Bluedot Living. To illustrate the problems the Lagoon faces and how people can help, the LPA hosts interactive exhibits and seminars each year. Last year’s exhibit focused on invasive species like Codium fragile (native to the Pacific, considered the world’s most invasive seaweed), green crabs, and tunicates (filter-feeding invertebrates). “We had these jars with specimens of each species, and we went around to Harborfest and Tivoli Day and the Earth Day celebration at the MV Museum and really tried to educate people,” Countryman said.
This year’s exhibit is focused on urine diversion, a topic (as Countryman notes) that can make people uncomfortable, but which is crucial to consider when working to protect the Lagoon from such threats as invasive plants and algae blooms. The main threat to the pond’s health, Countryman explained, is nearby septic systems that leach nitrogen into the watershed. The excess nutrients cause eutrophication, which leads to excessive plant and algae growth that eventually chokes out native aquatic flora and fauna.
Most of the nitrogen that seeps from septics comes from urine, which is why this year’s exhibit highlights ways to divert it. Innovative Alternative (IA) septics can filter out a significant amount of nitrogen that would otherwise be released into the Lagoon, but those systems are often too expensive for homeowners. Countryman said that diverting urine away from septic systems should be the first priority, as it’s the simplest, most cost-effective way to reduce (and potentially eliminate) the majority of nitrogen leaching.
The LPA will feature several urine-diverting toilets in this year’s exhibit, so attendees can see how they work and become more comfortable with the idea of alternative toilet systems. “Our goal is to try and get these technologies into the public lexicon — let’s turn this into a conversation that people aren’t afraid to have, and people don’t immediately jump to ‘that’s gross,’” Countryman said. “These technologies are continuing to improve, and they’re much cheaper solutions than these IA septics. On top of that, there are ways to take the urine and use it to create fertilizer.”
The association is also hosting several biodiversity-related activities to help people learn more about all the species found in the pond’s ecosystem. Last year, LPA members used a seine net at low tide and collected and catalogued all the flora and fauna they could. This year, the LPA is inviting the public to get involved: each month during the summer will feature a different event, and more unique opportunities to learn more about what the LPA is working to protect.
To raise awareness and Islandwide support, the LPA regularly partners with other local organizations that share the goal of conserving the Island’s waterways, and this season, it kicked off a speaker series in April with a conversation about Codium (also known as dead man’s fingers algae), presented in collaboration with the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group. Andrew Karlinski, biologist for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Natural Resources Department, spoke about a Codium removal pilot program he created for the tribe. After that, in July, people can hear from town officials about how the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection regulations are affecting the way homeowners deal with septics, and what it will take to remove nitrogen from wastewater. Subsequent speaker series events will take place in September and January.
I think the more information people have about [Lagoon Pond] and why it’s important, and the more they hear about different ways local organizations are working to protect it, they will be more inclined to do their own small part.
– Sherry Countryman, president of the Lagoon Pond Association
The LPA is also working with Martha’s Vineyard Commission cartographer and Graphic Information Systems coordinator Chris Seidel to create and distribute a map of the pond to boaters, commercial fishermen, and aquaculturists. Right now, they’re working on creating a QR code scanner to install at the drawbridge that captains can scan as they enter the Lagoon to see an underwater layout of the area. The map will indicate mooring fields, aquaculture farms, shellfish propagation areas, eel grass restoration beds, and available anchorages. “The Lagoon is really crowded, and people need to know that you can’t anchor in certain areas — it also gives you an idea of just how important the lagoon is to the fabric of the Island,” Countryman explained.
Last year, with the help of the West Chop Community Fund, the Edey Foundation, and other donors, the LPA purchased a water quality monitoring system called a Manta sonde. The sonde uses various sensors to measure pH, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pigmentation, and turbidity; it broadcasts all the data from those sensors to the LPA website every 15 minutes, so people who want to know more about the health of the pond can stay up to date.
For many, the lagoon is a place to swim, sail, harvest food, and make a living. Countryman said that the LPA will continue to offer ways for the community to connect more directly with the pond, and learn about initiatives to maintain Lagoon Pond and other estuaries as viable water resources. “I think the more information people have about the pond and why it’s important, and the more they hear about different ways local organizations are working to protect it, they will be more inclined to do their own small part,” Countryman said.
Head to lagoonpondassoc.org to learn more about LPA events, check up on water quality data, and donate to the cause. Look for the LPA table at Harborfest on June 21 in Oak Bluffs.
