By Don Williams,
President, HPWA

Our Watershed Association has suffered the tragic loss of two of our Board Members – our Treasurer, John Foye in February and our Membership Committee Chair, Martha Sheldon in a car accident in September. John was Treasurer from almost the beginning of HPWA and worked until near his death. Martha was much more than the Membership Chair. She led annual bird walks, helped Beth Sobiloff on the Communications Committee, and was, with husband Brian Harrington, instrumental in helping Plymouth acquire the Comassakumkanut and Alper Preserves. John and Martha will both be missed.

We welcome Brian as our new Treasurer and Theresa Dorr as our new Board of Directors member and Membership Committee Chair. Beth could use some help with posting Facebook and website information. This is an excellent way to get to know our active, successful organization better. If you are interested in becoming more active, please respond to our newsletter.

We have taken substantial, quick action combatting cyanobacteria blooms. The 2022 Water Quality Plan identified Little Herring Pond as the single largest source of the phosphorus pollutant that causes these blooms. Since sewering our area is not about to occur soon, the installation of a Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) in the Carter’s River (under the Carters Bridge Road bridge) was implemented. The PRB was in place for 11 weeks this summer, limited to that time by the herring run. We will know how much phosphorus was removed by the end of the year. 

We could not assume that the PRB will work because of the limited installation time and because PRBs are generally installed in slower moving groundwater. Accordingly, we are evaluating the feasibility of eliminating phosphorus coming from an old cranberry bog north of Little Herring Pond.

Our Water Quality Committee also tested 19 sites on Great Herring Pond in June, July, and August for E. coli to ensure that swimming sites are safe and to help screen for any defective septic tanks. Our water has been well below the limit for E. coli for the last 3 years.

Other than Water Quality monitoring, we have set two major new goals for our Watershed Association – building community and seeking to continue improving our organization. It is not enough to be satisfied with the present status. Moreover, building a community will enable us to all work together toward that goal of continuous improvement.

Our boat tours (thanks to Jack Kedian, Tom O’Brien, and Joe Solimini) were much more successful than last summer (continuous improvement!) and provided a relaxing, educational community event.  Our picnic (kudos to Trish O’Brien and Cheryl Nichols) included new and interesting events for children and members. Thanks also to Cheryl for a very successful (and well attended) Fourth of July Boat Parade and for a great Outdoor Movie Night. As always, our Herring Obstacle Course at the Plymouth Herring Fest attracted nearly 200 kids (and a few adults!). We continue to donate camperships for the YMCA Camp Clark and for the Plymouth Hedges Pond Day Camp for those who cannot afford to go on their own. These scholarships are named in memory of John Foye, who was a steadfast advocate. To keep you informed we hosted 5 educational programs and sent out 5 newsletters and timely Facebook posts.

Please feel free to suggest additional events that you would attend if offered. Again, respond to this newsletter to do so. Thanks so much for your help.  We could not do what we do without your support.

Don