Dudley Pond 2013 Yearend Report DEP#322 698

DEP 332-698 Dudley Pond

2013

Diver Allison LaClaire shows her collection of junk removed from Dudley Pond – not shown: engine block and bathtub.

Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee End of Season Report for Dudley Pond

Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698

2013 End of Season Report

Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee 2

SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................. 3

2008-2013 COST COMPARISONS & TREATMENT YEARS VS NON-TREATMENT YEARS ............................................ 4

2013 HAND-PULLING – ANOTHER LONG & TOUGH YEAR ....................................................................................... 5

2011 - 2013 HAND-PULLING COMPARISONS .......................................................................................................... 6

2013 LATE SEASON PULLING – AQUATIC VISION .................................................................................................... 7

2013 END OF SEASON SURVEY ............................................................................................................................... 8

2013 TAPE GRASS CONTINUES IT’S SPREAD ........................................................................................................... 9

2013 PROBLEMS, HANDICAPS, & ISSUES .............................................................................................................. 11

2013 HERBICIDE RESIDUALS TESTING ................................................................................................................... 12

2013 LONG TERM HERBICIDE MINIMIZATION PROGRESS .................................................................................... 13

2013 WATER CLARITY (SECCHI DEPTH) ................................................................................................................. 14

2013 WATER QUALITY TESTING ........................................................................................................................... 15

2013 E-COLI TESTING ........................................................................................................................................... 17

2013 E-COIL ‘MANAGEMENT’ STRATEGIES ........................................................................................................... 19

2013 COST & INVOICE RECAP ............................................................................................................................... 20

2014 SEASON PLANS ............................................................................................................................................ 21

2014 EXPECTED COSTS & FUNDING...................................................................................................................... 22

APPENDICES LIST ................................................................................................................................................. 22




SUMMARY

The 2013 hand-pulling program was successful at suppression, but scattered milfoil was surveyed at end-of-season. Accomplishments:

2013 Hand-pulling: Kept Eurasian Water Milfoil under control before and after spot treatment:

o 491 diver/snorkeler hours of hand pulling and survey o 44,699 plants removed (36,479 pre-treatment) o $40,209 spent (before DPA reimbursement).

Funding: Continued 25% shared funding with the DPA whose members care deeply about Dudley Pond and who directly enjoy its benefits.

Minimized chemical treatment through continued aggressive hand-pulling.

Continued consensus for limiting herbicide with goals and programs to minimize its use.

Completed annual testing for detection of both fluridone and triclopyr in Happy Hollow wells #1 and #2.

Yearend status:

Significant numbers of plants left un-pulled at the end of season. Plants were still there when it became too cold to pull.

Observations:

Some areas had to be re-visited every three weeks.

Fewer large old plants, new multi-stemmed plants

Long growing season.

Regrowth often associated with areas near storm drains.

Other pond-health issues: Cyanobacteria confirmed Related Activities:

WSWQC successfully preserved the potential for a future shared leach field in Dudley Wood, and supported turning over Rocky Point to Conservation.

WSWQC is developing proposed septic and landscaping regulations which would require additional measures for areas in close proximity to water bodies.




2008-2013 Cost comparisons & Treatment Years vs non-treatment years

After the whole lake treatment in 2008, two years later a spot treatment was done in 2010. The next spot treatment was three years later in 2013 – achieving a goal of lengthening the periods between herbicide treatments.




2013 HAND-PULLING – another long & tough year Milfoil appeared first near-shore, in shallower warmer areas. Later it appeared in deeper areas which received less sun at the bottom. Areas with lush plant growth were often associated with areas close to stormwater outfalls. This year, divers would update a map and data sheet, and were paid based on their posted updates. Notes were kept on ‘seeing’ conditions, water temperature, and comments on plants. (See Appendix A) Ted Fiust and Allison LaClaire were our principal divers. Both are familiar with and lived on Dudley Pond during the 2009-2011 seasons. Volunteer snorkeler Bob Smith helped out with the Mansion Beach area during the season. Ted’s firm Aquatic Vision furnished other divers. Lee Junkin, Wayland resident and Environmental Sciences student, did plant spotting & marking and diver support in 2013. He will be joining us again in 2014. Total hand pulling cost down in 2013 to $22,601.55 from $29,486 in 2012 - but high for a year in which herbicide was applied.

Hand Pulling – start and end dates 2011 - 2013

2011 2012 2013

Hand Pull started 5/5 4/24 4/15

Hand Pull ended 9/11 11/6 10/10

#Days in season 130 197 179

Hand pulling was interrupted for only three days when the spot herbicide application took place on 6/28.

Allison LaClaire & Ted Fiust




2011 - 2013 HAND-PULLING Comparisons In 2011 – 10,485 plants were removed In 2012 – 38,191 plants were removed In 2013 – 44,699 plants removed – an all-time record. To pond users on the surface, there were no impediments to use – and no apparent milfoil. Plant tops with seeds did not appear above the surface.




2013 LATE SEASON PULLING – Aquatic Vision Significant regrowth occurred in the Southeastern arm where 169 plants were pulled by Ted Fiust and divers from Aquatic Vision LLC.

Notes: Divers had reported cooler areas at some points, and we ask them to report roughly where those points were. They are indicated by the taupe markers and arrows. https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=z3RpSdSJOh4M.kXN645i3oSxE

Comments are available funder each clickable path at the link above.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=z3RpSdSJOh4M.kXN645i3oSxE




2013 END OF SEASON SURVEY Pulling continued through early-August. During August, September and October Allison LaClaire pulled 84 plants as she surveyed along these paths:

Notes:

1. Yellow markers indicate floating tapegrass was removed. 2. Red marker denotes a bathtub underwater


Comments are available funder each clickable path at the link above.





2013 TAPE GRASS CONTINUES IT’S SPREAD

Spread of tapegrass (Vallisneria Americana) noted. First spotted in 2010, by 2013 tapegrass expanded along a large portion of the south side of Dudley Road. It has appeared in other sites. It is difficult to hand pull milfoil which grows together with tapegrass.

SWQC does not hand pull tapegrass; it is not in our order of conditions. We have removed floating tufts which have broken loose. Tapegrass is starting to appear in other areas of the pond. It can ensnare swimmers, kayaks, and sailboards. Measures to limit its spread may be discussed next season.

Clasping leaf pondweed has also been spotted in some areas.




Minnesota DNR information on Tapegrass:

Per Tom Flannery, Mass DCR Lakes and Ponds group (2012): “This isn’t listed as an invasive, but I have seen it get a little out of control on a rare occasion. Sounds like that’s what you have going on. It can be especially dense late summer as it goes through the reproductive cycle. It’s usually considered beneficial and I’ve heard it intentionally planted for habitat. I’ve never heard of a chemical treatment for this particular plant, but the root system is very shallow making it a good candidate for hand-pulling and/or dash.”




2013 PROBLEMS, HANDICAPS, & ISSUES

Long Growing Season

Plant locations keep moving. We saw plants concentrated in several new locations last year. Late in the season we saw significant expansion in deeper waters

Algal Clouds reduced visibility in late July through August.

Later Spot Treatment. Required significant hand-pulling to suppress plants. o 2010 – Treatment on: 5/19 o 2013 – Treatment on: 6/28

New Species Spreading: Tapegrass and Clasping Leaf Pondweed

E-coli levels at Mansion Beach peaked once requiring closure.

Lost funds at year end: Milfoil seasons don’t correspond to the towns financial periods. In the past we had been allowed to carry over funds from the end of June for the balance of the season. In 2013, those funds were swept back into the general fund.




2013 HERBICIDE RESIDUALS TESTING Neither Fluridone nor triclopyr were detected in Happy Hollow water sample. Since the first use of fluridone in 2008, SWQC has, as required by its order of conditions, taken raw water samples from the Happy Hollow wells and tested for herbicide residuals. No detectable concentrations have been found. On January 28th, 2013 we again took samples of water from the Happy Hollow wells, and sent them to SePRO for testing. No detectible concentration of fluridone or triclopyr was found. We will continue this testing in 2014.

Figure 1 - Happy Hollow Well Approx. 3300' from closest point on Dudley Pond

Test reports are in Appendix C.




2013 LONG TERM HERBICIDE MINIMIZATION PROGRESS Our long term goal is to continue to reduce the viable root mass through hand-pulling and spot treatment when and where necessary. We have made good progress away from a boom-bust cycle toward year to year management and herbicide minimization.

Two years between full lake treatment in 2008 and the first spot treatment in 2010.

Three years between the 2010 spot treatment and the 2013 spot treatment.




2013 WATER CLARITY (SECCHI DEPTH) Jack Peters, a DPA member, took Secchi depth (the depth at which the pattern on a painted 9” disk disappears) and water temperature readings. Clarity is normally higher when water is colder at the start and end of the season when there is less algae in the water column. These data were all taken at the deepest part of Dudley Pond.

(See water clarity in relation to other water quality measures in Appendix B)




2013 WATER QUALITY TESTING Begun in 2011, in 2013 the SWQC did three rounds of water quality sampling – where samples were taken at 3 points. Samples were taken in April, September, and November.

Using a Secchi disk and YSI meter, barometric pressure, pH, ORP, Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature were taken at three depths per point. Water samples were analyzed by an analytical lab for total P, soluble P, Ammonia, Nitrate/Nitrite, Nitrogen, and Chlorophyll a. Using the Carlson Trophic index, Dudley Pond has been on the margin between mesotrophic and eutrophic since 1978,




Reports are in Appendix B.




2013 E-COLI TESTING HISTORY: After a leaking septic system was noted near the pond in 2011, in cooperation with the Health Department, SWQC organized periodic testing for e-coli. Samples were collected and analyzed per state protocols for beaches. At two points in 2011 the state limits were exceeded at Mansion Beach, and the beach was closed by the Health Department, based on state beach standards. This was thought to have more to do with waterfowl and dogs than the failed septic




system which was pumped weekly arranged by the Health Department. In 2012 & 2013 - DPA volunteer Lisa Newton took samples at Mansion Beach for analysis by the Health Department’s state-certified lab.

A peak count of 244 on 6/2/13 was repeated 6/5/13 at 136, under the state limit.

0

50

100

150

200

250

5/23/2012 6/23/2012 7/23/2012 8/23/2012

2012 e-Coli Levels - Mansion Beach

CFU/100ml

Danger CFU/100ml




2013 E-COIL ‘MANAGEMENT’ STRATEGIES Trash baskets, recycling containers, and a pet waste collection bags were installed at Mansion Beach, and serviced by SWQC volunteers:

Wile E. Coyote made a brief but ineffective effort to control waterfowl coming onto the beach. In 2013 we had few Canada Geese, but we did have a flock of ducks and occasional visits from those prodigious poopers, the Mute Swan family.

Colorful plastic pinwheels with metallic shiny surfaces were installed along the shoreline at 2-3’ intervals, and these seemed reasonably successful at keeping ducks at bay:




2013 COST & INVOICE RECAP

TOTAL EXPENDITURES: $40,209.45 -Dudley Pond Association Reimbursement: $11,593.71 NET COST TO WAYLAND $28,615.74




2014 SEASON PLANS Well Sampling: We will continue annual spring tests of water from the Happy Hollow wells for fluridone and triclopyr. Samples will be analyzed by SePRO, and copies of test reports will be provided to the Conservation Commission, the DPW, and Board of Health Hand-pulling: Hand-pulling will continue, likely at the same level as in 2013. We have a new resident diver helping this season. We will again use part time summer labor to help set and remove markers and assist divers from the surface. We will be investigating whether unmanned watercraft can help locate emergent milfoil patches before they grow large. Spot treatment: We do not anticipate spot treatment in 2014. If we believe spot treatment is necessary, we will notify the Conservation Administrator as required by our Order of Conditions. Water Quality Testing: We will continue a 3x per season water quality sampling and testing plans begun in Dudley Pond in 2011. Mansion Beach eColi monitoring – We will continue to collaborate with the Health Department to monitor eColi levels at Mansion beach weekly during the swim season. NEW: Manhole Inspection – SWQC and the DPW are collaborating in a prototype program to inspect and evaluate the condition of manholes and catch basins. Stormwater structures will be inspected before and after cleaning. Eventually we hope to do this around all town water bodies and make recommendations for maintenance, replacement, and alternative stormwater management. Research & actions to reduce nutrients suppressing milfoil with hand-pulling or herbicides is not the same as reducing the high nutrient levels that support milfoil growth. Dudley Pond is still a category 5 (most impaired) due to high nutrient levels. The WSWQC participated in the Dudley Area Study Committee, and has developed a household-level model to identify likely high-nutrient contributions. SWQC look forward to working with Conservation to improving public access and designing low-impact uses of Rocky Point, its newest Conservation property.




2014 EXPECTED COSTS & FUNDING WSWQC has budgeted $40,000 for Dudley Pond hand-pulling or spot treatment during the 2014 season (partly in FY14, partly in FY15). The lab costs for water chemistry and herbicide residue testing are budgeted at $5000. Unspent funds will be returned to the town at the end of each Fiscal year. NEW: The town’s fiscal year end of June 30 makes financial planning for a management season difficult. In years past, WSWQC was allowed to carry over funds to complete a fiscal year. In 2013 for the first time, no funds were allowed to be carried over, leaving little in the WSWQC budget for spring/early summer 2014. Fortunately, monies contributed by the Dudley Pond Association are kept in a separate fund and not returned to the General Fund. This spring, the WSWQC will be able to continue thanks to the balances in the DPA contribution fund. The Dudley Pond Association is expected to continue to provide a 25% match of monies spent suppressing milfoil in Dudley Pond, partly offsetting the town’s costs above. APPENDICES LIST A 2013 Yearend DP Hand Pulling – Maps & Details B 2013 DP Water Quality Sampling Reports C 2013 Dudley Pond Herbicide Residuals Test Results D 2013 Aquatic Control Technologies – Treatment Report and Treatment Path

Documents

Dudley Pond 2013 Yearend Report DEP#322 698