Dudley Pond 2014 year end report DEP 322 698

DEP 332-698 Dudley Pond

2014

9mm UZI – discovered by diver Allison LaClaire and turned over to the Wayland Police Department

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

Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 2008-2014 COST COMPARISONS & HERBICIDE TREATMENT YEARS VS NON-TREATMENT YEARS .......................... 4 2014 HAND-PULLING – MILFOIL LIMITED – ALGAL MATS & TAPEGRASS PROBLEMS .............................................. 5 2011 - 2014 HAND-PULLING COMPARISONS .......................................................................................................... 6 2014 TAPEGRASS SURVEY – ................................................................................................................................... 8 2014 END OF SEASON SURVEY ............................................................................................................................... 9 2014 PROBLEMS, HANDICAPS, & ISSUES .............................................................................................................. 10 2014 HERBICIDE RESIDUALS TESTING ................................................................................................................... 11 2013 LONG TERM HERBICIDE MINIMIZATION PROGRESS .................................................................................... 12 2014 WATER QUALITY TESTING ........................................................................................................................... 13 2014 E-COLI TESTING ........................................................................................................................................... 15 2014 COST & INVOICE RECAP ............................................................................................................................... 18 2015 SEASON PLANS ............................................................................................................................................ 19 2015 EXPECTED COSTS & FUNDING...................................................................................................................... 20 APPENDICES LIST ................................................................................................................................................. 20

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

SUMMARY The 2014 hand-pulling program didn’t require much effort and successful at suppression Accomplishments:  2014 Hand-pulling: Kept Eurasian Water Milfoil under control. o 212 diver/snorkeler hours of hand pulling and survey o 2,744 plants removed (down from 44,699 in 2013) o $11,066 spent (before DPA cost share)    

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:  Clear Observations:  Significant floating algal mats early in the year  Tapegrass present on most shorelines, very dense in some areas.  Shorter than normal growing season.  Other pond-health issues: Cyanobacteria confirmed Related Activities:  WSWQC proposed septic and landscaping regulations which would require additional measures for areas in close proximity to water bodies but these could not be adopted by the BoH due to manpower limitations in 2014. This will be revisited after a Sanitarian is hired.  In collaboration with the DPW, parts of the stormwater handling system (along Simpson Road) has been cleaned with the town’s ‘vac truck’ and mapped. SWQC will work with DPW, Recreation, and Conservation to improve stormwater handling in the Mansion Beach area.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2008-2014 Cost comparisons & Herbicide 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.

No herbicide was used in 2014 and none is expected to be needed in 2015.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 HAND-PULLING – milfoil limited – algal mats & tapegrass problems 2014 saw late ice-out and before milfoil was spotted, we had a number of floating algal mats, which we physically removed from the surface.

Pulling began in at the end of May. Divers updated an internet map and data sheet. Notes were kept by location on plant sizes, ‘seeing’ conditions, water temperature, and other diver observations. These on-line notes and map keep divers, spotters, and management updated.

Mid-season, divers were complaining about plucking small milfoil plants from masses of tapegrass. By season end tapegrass has come on strong – and dislodged floating mats were removed to prevent further spread.

Ted Fiust and Allison LaClaire were again our principal divers. Both are very familiar with Dudley Pond during prior seasons. Ted’s firm Aquatic Vision furnished other divers. Genna Cutitta, Dudley Pond resident joined us as a first year diver.

Lee Junkin, Wayland resident and Environmental Sciences student, did plant spotting & marking and diver support in 2014. Andy Freedman, Wayland resident worked early in the season on spotting and algal mat removal and will be joining us again in 2015.

Allison LaClaire & Ted Fiust

Milfoil Hand Pulling – start and end dates 2011 - 2014 Hand Pull started Hand Pull ended #Days in season

2011 5/5 9/11 130

2012 4/24 11/6 197

2013 4/15 10/10 179

2014 5/27* 10/6 133

2014* Algae mats removed 5/6, 5/7, and 6/11

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2011 - 2014 HAND-PULLING Comparisons In 2011 –

10,485 EWM plants removed

In 2012 –

38,191 EWM plants removed

In 2013 –

44,699 EWM plants removed – an all-time record.

In 2014 –

2,744 EWM plants removed – lowest in years.

163 gallons of algal mat removed (6/2 – 6/9) 98 cu. ft. of tapegrass removed (10/3-10/6)

To pond users on the surface, there were few impediments to use – and no apparent milfoil.

Milfoil tops with seeds did not appear above the surface. By the end of the season, in some areas south of Dudley Road peninsula, tapegrass was too thick to cross.

MILFOIL – under control in 2014 From the full-court press of 2013 – a 12 acre herbicide spot treatment, and pulling a record 44,699 plants – to 2014 when the Eurasian Milfoil plants were greatly diminished.

It continued to pop up, and yes hand-pulled it – but what happened? We gave it a solid whack with both hand-pulling and spot herbicide in 2013. The spot treatment was later in the year – perhaps so late that regrowth was limited. We had a long 2013-2014 winter – and a record late ice-out – meaning not much light was getting through. Then came the algae – cloudy water, and floating algal mats. The algae reduced the light and coated the plants.

Whether it was nature’s good fortune, a late herbicide treatment, or eight years of predation by the SWQC, the milfoil was the sparsest it has been in many years.

There may have been some diminution of nutrients due to replacement septic systems, and the effects of state-mandated elimination of phosphorus in household products and more recently fertilizers.

Dudley Pond is still rich in nutrients – and by suppressing Eurasian Water Milfoil we may have encouraged a competitor – tapegrass.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

TAPEGRASS – growing problem Milfoil’s competition has arrived: Vallisneria Americana, aka tapegrass, or eel grass.

Tapegrass has taken over beds where milfoil used to predominate.

First spotted in 2010 South of the peninsula in the Chateau arm, it has spread there and now forms thick mats making boating and swimming problematic. It can spread by seeds but mostly through its rhizomes – runners in the sediments.

It has spread to most shorelines, interferes with milfoil hand pulling, is a hazard to swimmers, and interferes with recreational uses.

Tapegrass mat on Dudley Pond

TAPEGRASS – what management was possible? We removed floating mats, but pulling is not in our Order of Conditions, so no other action was possible.

Unlike Eurasian Milfoil, tapegrass is considered a native plant and brings some benefits to the ecosystem. But even natives can become nuisance vegetation – the DEP now recognizes this.

It has become so troublesome that this year we’ve mapped it so we would have data to bring to Conservation.

Per Tom Flannery, Mass DCR Lakes and Ponds group (2012): “This [tapegrass] 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.”

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 Tapegrass Survey We realized in July 2014 that we should document the extent of the tapegrass spread. We did a one-day survey to map where it could be found.

Pin colors indicate density - yellow light, orange- medium, red- thick.

A band of infestation was found in the northern tip.

Two large areas of infestation were to the south of the Dudley Road peninsula.

One tapegrass bed is shown in yellow along Dudley Road at Bayfield Road.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 END OF SEASON SURVEY

By September 28 and 29, divers were satisfied they had pulled most of what could be pulled – in-water time changed to long scouting paths rather than concentrated pulling in one area.

Pulling ended September 29. Divers and surface workers continued to remove floating tapegrass mats.

Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 PROBLEMS, HANDICAPS, & ISSUES 

Algal Clouds and Mats appeared early in the season. These clouds obscure diver visibility.



New Species Spreading: Tapegrass (significant, surveyed) and Clasping Leaf Pondweed (noted, not widespread)



E-coli levels at Mansion Beach peaked twice requiring closure – average significantly higher than years past.

Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 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 May 7th, 2014 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 2015.

Happy Hollow Well Approx. 3300' from closest point on Dudley Pond, but connected by Dudley Brook.

Test reports are in Appendix C.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 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 the full lake fluridone treatment in 2008 and the first triclopyr spot treatment in 2010.



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

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 WATER QUALITY TESTING Begun in 2011, in 2014 the SWQC did three rounds of water quality sampling – where samples were taken at 3 points. Samples were taken in April, August, 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.

Results for water transparency and chlorophyll-a were more eutrophic in 2014 than 2013.

Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2013

Reports are in Appendix B. Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 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 are 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.

Since starting the sampling, there were  No exceedances in 2012  one exceedance in 2013  two exceedances in 2014 Average CFU/100ml over sampling years:  2012 - 25  2013 - 66  2014 - 188

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

In 2012 & 2013 & 2014 - DPA volunteer Lisa Newton took samples at Mansion Beach for analysis by the Health Department’s state-certified lab.

2012 e-Coli Levels - Mansion Beach 250 200 150 CFU/100ml 100

Danger CFU/100ml

50 0 5/23/2012

6/23/2012

7/23/2012

8/23/2012

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

Wayland Surface Water Quality Committee

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

Peaks are significantly associated with rain events, and contamination is believed to be predominantly from materials washed from beach and at times the road into the water.

Over time, the average counts over time have risen significantly and the 2014 average was 84% of the MDPU mandated limit of 230.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2014 COST & INVOICE RECAP

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2015 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 higher level than 2014. We will again use part time summer labor to help set and remove markers and assist divers from the surface.

Spot treatment: We do not anticipate herbicide spot treatment in 2015.

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.

Manhole Inspection – SWQC and the DPW are collaborating to inspect and evaluate the condition of manholes and catch basins. Stormwater structures will be inspected before and after cleaning 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. In 2010-2011 WSWQC created the East Dudley Area Study Committee, and has developed a householdlevel septic model to identify likely high-nutrient contributors. We will continue to press the Board of Health for mandatory septic system inspections.

Because our OOC has ended, we will seek our Certification of Compliance for DEP 322-698. We will submit a Notice of Intent with substantially the same management strategy for Eurasian water milfoil (myriophyllum spicatum) and adding clasping-leaf and curly leaf pondweeds (potamogeton perfoliatus, potamogeton crispus). We will seek permission for manual controls on tapegrass (vallisneria spiralis) over specified densities and heights.

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Dudley Pond – DEP 332-698 2014 End of Season Report

2015 EXPECTED COSTS & FUNDING WSWQC has budgeted $40,000 for Dudley Pond hand-pulling or spot treatment during the 2015 season (partly in FY15, partly in FY16). The lab costs for water chemistry and herbicide residue testing are budgeted at $5000.

Unspent funds are returned to the town at the end of each fiscal year.

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

2014 Yearend DP Hand Pulling – Maps & Details

B

2014 DP Water Quality Sampling Reports

C

2014 Dudley Pond Herbicide Residuals Test Results

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