Don Williams, President

Despite the pandemic (and the other major distractions of 2021), the Herring Ponds Watershed Association has had a very good year.  We are about to get the first draft of a long-awaited Water Quality Plan that will identify the sources of phosphorus pollution causing the cyanobacteria and algae blooms and suggest ways to prevent them in the future. We were major participants at the dedication of the 54-acre Comassakumkanut property in our recharge area that you helped Plymouth purchase for conservation. We have $2000 in our land acquisition fund for future land purchases.  We have a record number of memberships and donations for 2021. Sincere thanks to you for your generosity! We are well-known and highly respected in Plymouth and in the region for our accomplishments. We have a hard-working all-volunteer Board of Directors and constituency that is responsible for these accomplishments.

We need your help for 3 important spring projects.

Town Trash Cleanup Day is Saturday, May 7.  We need volunteers to pick up trash in specific areas around our watershed (Geri and I will do the western part of Carters Bridge Road, Martha Sheldon and Brian Harrington will pick up from the Little Red School House to the underpass). Linda White has agreed to coordinate this effort for HPWA. If you are willing to donate some time on Saturday, May 7 cleaning up in your neighborhood or any messy area email Linda at horseandboat@aol.com. The Town of Plymouth donates trash bags that Linda will pick up at Town Hall and distribute ahead of time. The filled bags are collected by Plymouth DPW. Thank you Linda and clean up volunteers.

The Herring Festival will take place on Saturday, April 23 at Jenney Grist Mill.  Remember the Herring Obstacle Course that Lee Pulis set up 3 years ago?  We had 150 kids run through it! We need people to help set up early Saturday morning, volunteers to man our table to hand out literature and answer questions, docents to explain the process to the children before they start, adults to monitor the “slide back to the sea.” Melissa Ferretti and the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe will be coordinating this project.  Email Melissa at melissaferretti@hotmail.com if you can help! 

Finally, Ramona Krogman (ramiek99@hotmail.com)  is organizing our herring count effort. The count starts the beginning of April and continues until the end of May. Training will be provided but basically, all you must do is sit on the Sandy Pond Road bridge, count for 10 minutes one or two times a week of your choice and then record the number of herring seen. Great fun, actually! The herring are important food sources for many of the ocean gamefish. The numbers help the state keep track of trends for this important resource. Send Ramona an email if you can help out.

Be well and enjoy the watershed.