President’s Letter Winter 2023
Don Williams, President
Great News! The Permeable Reactive Barrier Will Be Installed in Carters River This Summer to Hopefully Reduce GHP Phosphorus and Prevent GHP Cyanobacteria Blooms!
The passage of Article 4A7 by Plymouth Fall Town Meeting provides $32,800 (HPWA has contributed an additional $5,000) that will fund gathering and interpreting flow rate and phosphorous data, and installing a Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) in the Carters River. I got word last week from Kim Tower of the Plymouth Department of Marine and Environmental Affairs (DMEA) that they are targeting the PRB installation for early his summer.
We had learned from the Water Quality Report that the single largest source of phosphorus in Great Herring Pond (GHP) is Little Herring Pond (LHP) via the connecting Carters River. Thanks so much to you, our members, for your contributions that funded this Report that provided this valuable information.
The Management Implementation Committee (Jack Kedian, Geri Williams. Paul Denoncourt, Jerry Levine, Tom O’Brien, Brian Harrington, Jim Smith, Lee Pulis, and I), Kim Tower and David Gould from the DMEA, and our SMAST consultant, Ed Eichner were then able to choose installation of a PRB in the Carters River between (LHP) and (GHP) as the best interim-term way to remove the most phosphorus and hopefully eliminate the harmful cyanobacteria blooms that we experienced in 2020 and 2021.
We are still using the word “hopefully” in our communications because PRBs have not been used to remove phosphorus from streams. We are all optimistic about our chances for success because there are slow moving sections of Carters River, owned by the Town of Plymouth, that should allow enough contact time between the iron filings in the PRB and the phosphorus in the stream water to remove the phosphorus. From data already collected, we will have baseline monthly GHP phosphorus levels. Article 4A7 provides funding for collecting and interpreting future data gathered during the presence of the PRB that will tell us how much phosphorus has been removed. We will have quick feedback on our level of success.
I cannot say enough about the participation of HPWA’s partners in this effort: our members who donated to the cause, Plymouth DMEA who provided funding, encouragement, and expertise, and our knowledgeable consultant, Ed Eichner of UMass Dartmouth. Special thanks also to the HPWA Management Implementation Committee for their work in guiding the design of the Water Quality Plan and the choice of the best interim-term way to remove phosphorus pollutant from our watershed. Together we may add significant knowledge that will be useful in combatting harmful cyanobacteria blooms in the future.
I wish you all Peace, Happiness and Joy during this Holiday Season and thank you for all your support.
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