Please take a good look at the accompanying article detailing upcoming events.  There are functions both for individuals and for families.  Introduce yourself to us. The overall message is that your Board of Directors is busy, in fact, very busy protecting our watershed and offering free community-building, educational activities. Of particular interest for families is the Firefly Walk with Plymouth County Entomologist Blake Dinius on June 27th starting at 7:45pm in Lot 2 of Myles Standish State Forest.

Cyanobacteria blooms are our number one water quality problem and have occurred 3 out of the last 5 years.  Sadly, the Permeable Reactive Barrier project in the Carters River failed to remove significant amounts of the phosphorus pollutant responsible for the blooms.  The partnership with Plymouth and with SMAST consultant Ed Eichner is looking closely at the next step; we are confident that together we will find a solution to this problem.

We will continue to take water quality samples from April through October to gain more information about our watershed system for future planning. Later this month and again during the summer we will take water samples for E. coli testing at the swimming areas around Great Herring Pond to ensure safe water recreation.

One of the best ways we can protect the water in our watershed is by helping the Town of Plymouth purchase land around our ponds for conservation, preventing future pollution. We have established a special Land Acquisition Fund to have funds ready in case an opportunity arises. Please consider making a designated contribution to this fund.

We need more volunteers to continue to better our water quality improvement and community-building activities.  Our Social Committee would love to sponsor more events.  The Membership Committee could use some help writing thank-you notes to our donors.  If you like boat rides on Great Herring Pond, come volunteer for the Water Quality Committee and help take monthly samples.  It would also be great to have a legal professional as a volunteer.

We have a hard-working, problem-solving Board of Directors; we will help you find a niche in our organization.  If you have a skill that you would like to donate or want to learn a new skill that we can teach you, give me a call at (508) 833-4355 and we can discuss it.

It is true that we are dealing with complex, difficult problems but our Board of Directors has learned to work together for the greater good (“there is no ‘I’ in Team”).  We are willing to share these skills while finding the right “fit” for you in our professional, productive team.

Finally, thank you very much for your generous response to this year’s membership appeal!  We cannot undertake these tasks without your continuing support.  I write many of the letters that go out and am proud of and humbled by your faith in us. 

Don Williams
President
Herring Ponds Watershed Association