Data collection for the Water Management Plan is complete!

Members of the Water Quality Committee assisted Jen Benson of U Mass SMAST on Oct 14 to collect the last of the water samples and dissolved oxygen measurements. Special  thanks to Tom O’Brien and Joe Solomini who took the sample gathering group out each month since April.

Jen and her boss, Dave Schlezinger have spent 3 days in a small skiff equipped with a camera to record life at the bottom of the pond and sonar to collect bathymetry (depth) measurements of the entire bottom of Great Herring Pond. These measurements will give them an accurate profile of the bottom of GHP and allow them to calculate the total volume of the pond. They circled the perimeter of the pond and then made many parallel crisscrosses to collect the data. They indicated they saw many fresh water mussels on the bottom, which is a good sign for the health of the pond. They also collected the same data for Little Herring Pond.