Harwich Water Quality Task Force
Maintaining and restoring the Quality of Harwich Ponds and Harbors
Harwich, Massachusetts
Return to Ponds

Tony Piro

Frank Sampson

Getting Started

This report summarizes water quality data collected on the ponds by the Town of Harwich Water Quality Monitoring Program since 2001. A separate report covers the salt water systems. This program was initiated in 2001 by the Harwich Water Quality Task Force (WQTF) and is managed through Harwich’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) by Heinz Proft, Assistant Harbor Master, under the direction of the Town of Harwich Water Quality Task Force’s Sampling Subcommittee (SSC). Members of the subcommittee include Paula Champagne, Health Director, Heinz Proft, Danette Gonsalves (WQTF) and Frank Sampson (Ch.WQTF).

The following map "Harwich, MA Freshwater Pond Testing, MASSGIS 2000 MAP" and Table 1 "Pond Inventory" are provided for the readers information The total number of ponds listed is 33, but the count changes depending on what you define as a pond. For example the CCC (Cape Cod commission) list 62 ponds in Harwich in a recent report. The SSC selected 12 ponds to be included in the initial (2001) program based on their location, size, relative prominence in the fresh water ecology and the availability of volunteers to monitor them. The opportunity to add ponds is only limited by the people willing to take on "stewardship" of the ponds. We are always looking for more volunteers. As can be seen we share many ponds with adjoining towns and coordinate closely with Brewster and Chatham.

Early in the summer of 2001, a group of volunteers gathered to initiate a water quality-monitoring program for the Town of Harwich’s salt and fresh water systems. The volunteers first met at the Town Hall for a briefing on the program and initial instruction on taking the selected measurements. A second session at Wychmere Harbor provided the volunteers with a live demonstration and practice exercises with the equipment. The volunteers were learning the skills necessary to monitor the parameters that would subsequently be analyzed to learn the quality of the water in Harwich’s ponds.

A roster of the Volunteers and the ponds they would be monitoring during 2001 is presented in a link to the Home Page of this web site. The monitoring took place during early August, mid August, and early September. The volunteers were split into two groups taking measurements on two different days due to equipment availability. The parameters monitored were Dissolved Oxygen, Water Temperature, Station Depth, Secchi Disk Transparency Depth, Weather, Wind, and Water condition. The mid August data collection included the added task of extracting samples of water for chemical analysis in the laboratories of UMass Dartmouth. These samplings were made available through Ed Eichner, water scientist, Cape Cod Commission (CCC) and Brian Howes and the laboratory facilities of SMAST (School for Marine Science & Technology) at UMass Dartmouth. The additional parameters provided by lab analysis included Alkalinity, Chlorophyll, Phosphorus, and Nitrogen.

Before going any further it is appropriate to mention a few outstanding contributors to this Town wide effort. First come accolades for all the volunteers collecting data on the deep ponds. Their task included taking measurements and sampling data for every 2 meters of depth. The champs in this category were the folks at John Joseph having to take data at eight different depths while those of us on a shallow pond were lucky to have enough depth for two readings. The team of Anne Hynes and her daughter Abigail performed the Herculean task of keeping all participants up to date and coordinated. Last but not least all the volunteers are grateful for the patient effort Heinz Proft put into educating us for the task and Frank Sampson for his overall coordination of the project.

The Pond Sub Committee (PSC) was established under the Town-Wide Water Quality Management Task Force (WQTF) at its November 2001 meeting. The Mission Statement of the PSC is as follows: "Assess and document the condition of each Harwich pond with the goal of maintaining or improving water quality through citizen volunteer effort or where necessary identify need for regulatory change or projects for town funding". Four members of the WQTF initially agreed to serve on the PSC. With the subsequent inclusion of a volunteer from each pond the PSC’s membership expanded to include a representative of each of the ponds tested. 

Once the data was collected, activities focused on using the data to assess the status of each pond and public education opportunities. Assessment tasks include finding methods of displaying and subsequently analyzing this data. Educational endeavors involve instituting an all inclusive information file at the Brooks Library and developing a web site. Members are also attending various seminars, schools and workshops to broaden background knowledge and prepare for the tasks ahead. Future tasks will determine what action can be taken to maintain or improve water quality, to prioritize this list, to establish the scope of each of the identified high priorities, and to propose a fresh water quality management master plan for the Town. Throughout our endeavors the need for funding to supplement our work is recognized and opportunities to secure grants and other potential sources will be pursued.

This interim report section of the HWQTF will be updated to summarize activities and accomplishments as well as the inclusion of new data. It will be organized in such a way that it will grow through these periodic supplements into the committee’s final report.  The primary purpose is to present the citizens of Harwich a comprehensive picture of where the PSC stands on assessing each pond and its objective of documenting a fresh water quality management plan for Harwich to act upon.

 Expanded Second Year

The Monitoring Program initiated during 2001 continued in 2002 with the number of ponds increased from 12 to 14 and the volunteers from 29 to 37. Briefings and practical training exercises of the previous year were held for the new volunteers. Data was collected once a month from June to September. Water samples for analysis by SMAST were collected during June and September. Parameters recorded by the Volunteers during 2002 included all those collected during the first year with the addition of pH. Parameters analyzed by SMAST remained the same.

Activities introduced during the second year added several more tasks for the volunteers. A list of "Pond Observations" was compiled and added to the water sampling kits. The list included looking for signs of road run off, vegetation identification, invasive species identification, animal life, excessive waterfowl, and shoreline characteristics including adequate buffers and possible sources of pollution. Pond surveys were conducted at five ponds under the guidance of Cathy Paris to aide in the assessment process. Information from these activities served as the basis for the individual pond Fact Sheets that appears in the individual pond assessment in appendix A of this report. The accumulation of these sheets was initiated by Ed Molnar, Captain of Cornelius, and later joined by John Bitzer, the captain of Hinkley Pond.

Members of the WQTF; Larry Ballantine, Bob Goodwin, Tony Piro and Frank Sampson, were joined by Cathy Paris to start the process of sorting out all the data collected in the first two years.

News that additional instrumentation purchases will provide dedicated instrumentation kits for each of the volunteer teams next year was happily received. The early morning trips to the Harbormaster’s station will not be missed. Of course the Harbormaster will not miss the volunteers returning kits during the busy summer boating season.

Preliminary discussion took place with the Brooks Library staff to use their facilities to make available the data and information resulting from the efforts of the PSC for the towns people of Harwich. Barbara Murphy is enthusiastically following up on this endeavor. It may also be possible to include our reports and data on the Library’s computer system.

Third Year, 2003

 An experienced group of volunteers gathered to attend an organization and training session on June 5, 2003. Heinz Proft and Frank Sampson arranged this get together to welcome new volunteers, and go over the objectives of the coming years program, schedule, and the operation of the equipment used to measure the parameters and collect water samples. A “hands on” training session was planned for June 11 at the Town Landing for first time volunteers. New volunteers are assigned to work with experienced people during the summer for additional on the job training.

 New volunteers for 2003 numbered 8 and providing a total of 27. Use the home page “Harwich Water Quality Pond Monitoring Volunteers Years of Service “link for a listing of the volunteers for each year of the program. The team captains and Pond Subcommittee (PSC) members are identified on this listing. The source of the data for the yearly listing of volunteers is the Field Data Sheets completed for each data monitoring event. The training sessions with Heinz and the integration of the new with the experienced volunteers provided another year of accurate data and sampling collections. The responsibility of each pond captain is to have each volunteer’s first two sessions be with an experienced crew. Taking measurements or samples and record keeping are the two functions of each crew. Captains made sure that each member of his crew gained experience at each.   

 Water samples and parameter measurements were scheduled for June 18, July 17, and August 19. Parameter measurements only were scheduled for July 3, August 5, and September 3. Individual pond captains take on the roll of coordinator and arrange that day’s volunteers, meeting times, equipment availability, boat, and after the task is completed the transfer of data and water samples back to Saquatucket Harbor .

 A major change this year was that the sampling on the harbors and ponds was done on the same day. This meant that only one trip to SMAST in New Bedford was required per sampling event. This was now possible because each team had its own set of instruments. Trips to Saquatucket were also reduced to picking up sample bottles prior to sampling days and turning in the Field Data Sheets at a convenient time.

 The first salt and fresh water interim reports were distributed at the June meeting. Copies were provided each volunteer and additional interested parties. Copies were also made available at the information desk of the Brooks Library so that town’s people can become familiar with the effort and its purpose.  The Pond Report summarized the first two years of activity and water quality data collected during 2001 and 2002. It presented a narrative on the initiation of the program, the continuation of the activities during the second year and individual ponds assessments.  Data and information collected by the volunteers was presented in chart and graph form to aide in the assessments of each pond. The interim report was updated to include monitoring data for 2003 and 2004 and provides the basis of this web site.  

The ponds are comparatively rated based on the SMAST sampling data utilizing the Carlson Index, Link to Harwich Ponds – Carlson’s Trophic State Index. The ponds rated best (oligotrophic) for all 3 samplings during 2003 were Andrews, Bucks, Hawksnest, and John Joseph. Those that rated poorest (eutrophic) on at least one occasion during 2003 were Cornelius, Flax, Hinckley and Skinequit. Remaining ponds sampled were in the mid or mesotrophic range.

 During 2003 dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation, Secchi depth, pH and water temperature measurements were continued by the volunteers. The data shows that the oligotrophic and mesotrophic ponds water clarity is holding up very well. As one would expect the problems are with the four eutrophic ponds. Of these Flax is the only one to maintain the same depths of clarity. The volunteer at Cornelius could not to see the Secchi disk at the bottom of this 2.5m pond. Hinckley did a little better than prior years seeing the Secchi disk at a depth of 3m on two of 5 occasions but fell off to about 1.5m for the last two measurements of the year. Skinequit continues stuck in the 2m range and that is a concern for a pond that has a maximum depth greater than 9m.

 During 2003 some of the ponds were plagued with an algae attach.. The algae blooms started appearing in the late spring and were very severe on Aunt Edies which was not clear of the thick oil like covering until the following spring. The folks on John Joseph were much more fortunate as their infestation was gone by mid summer 2003.
 

2004 ACTIVITIES

The fourth year was more than ever the year of the volunteer. The kick off meeting for 2004 was   Volunteer Appreciation Day held on April 22, 2004 at the Community Center. Bob Duncanson, Ph.D. and Director of Chatham ’s Water Quality Lab was the featured speaker and shared his experiences with us on their pond monitoring program. Each volunteer received a certificate of appreciation and a commemorative coffee cup from the Town to let them know that their efforts are considered a valuable contribution to the future of Harwich. The first “Harwich Ponds Water Quality Monitoring Program” Interim Report was given to each of the attendees. It will be widely distributed to interested parties.

The WQTF had a display and representatives at Harwich’s first Spirit Day on March 27, 2004 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Community Center. The effort to recruit additional volunteers was well rewarded as ten citizens came forward to join the project. The new volunteers included the Giffords of Whites Pond which brought to 13 the number of ponds being monitored in Harwich. The increase in available volunteers played a vital role in keeping the scale of the program in tact. Changes left vacancies at the coordinators position and 4 ponds were quickly filled with the additional staff. The quality of the work continued at established levels because experienced people were willing to transfer to ponds needing expertise to cross train the new volunteers.

The annual organization and training days were conducted by Heinz Proft on June 3^rd at the Town hall and June 10^th at Wychmere Fish Pier. New personnel as well as those wanting a refresher course attended.

A late testing was done on the stratified ponds in early October after the first frost to catch the fall turnover. This exercise was 100% successful as the tested ponds all confirmed turnover took place.

It is believed that this phenomenon occurs when the surface water initially cools becoming denser and sinks. The warmer water near the bottom being less dense and lighter rises until the temperature becomes more uniform from the surface to maximum depth. The turn over effects the levels of dissolved oxygen though out he water column. It becomes similar at all depths and the ponds become significantly less or not stratified.

The “Cape Cod Pond and Lake Atlas ” discusses the stratification process and is on file at the Brooks Library in Harwich.

2005 Activities

Basic ground rules for the 2005 water quality data collection were agreed to at the WQTF meeting of 05-19-05. The number of water samples to be collected and sent to Southeastern University of Massachusetts would be the one paid for by the Cape Cod Commissions PALS program. It was thought that the money being spent on chemical analysis could now be spent on data interpretation and investigations on how pond water quality can be improved. The turnout of volunteers from each of the ponds being monitored assured that this important work of the past four years would continue.

Bob Sarantis was added to the Town Wide Water Quality Task Force and will concentrate his activities in the fresh water arena. Robert Owens is now the Planning Board liaison to the WQTF and will contribute his talents in the fresh water area also. Harwich’s Conservation Commission Administrator, John Chatham has agreed to assist the Pond Sub- Committee (PSC) in their efforts to improve the water quality of the Town’s ponds. This addition of new fresh water interest is greatly appreciated.

The WQTF website was established early in the year using the Interim Report of 2002 as the baseline. It has been continuously updated since that time with inclusion of 2003 and 2004 data. 2005 data is currently being integrated with the previous data. Other sections, such as the individual pond fact sheets, are being improved to reflect the latest thoughts on the status of Harwich’s ponds. 

The Cape Cod Commission (CCC) submitted a proposal to the Town to review and interpret pond water quality data collected by the volunteers. This review will provide individual pond classification and recommendations for future monitoring and water quality improvements. The initial meeting with a representative of the CCC took place on

11-04-05 for the purpose of transferring data, planning program tasks and discussing areas of concern. Volunteers are to be commended as all but one of the ponds was represented. The second phase of the study will develop trophic status, water quality concerns, and development recommendations for future activities at each of the ponds. The first review of the conclusions and recommendations is planned for late spring before the start of 2006 monitoring activities.

Great Sands Lakes received a Barnstable County grant to define options for managing wastewater from existing development around kettle ponds on Cape Cod using Bucks and John Joseph ponds in Harwich as a case study. Many large ponds on the Cape have densely developed watersheds that also lie in the watersheds of drinking water supplies or in coastal watersheds or both. Towns are faced with decisions regarding the proper management of wastewater around these ponds due to concerns about nitrogen or phosphorus buildup. Both of these ponds are surrounded by dense residential development which give rise to concerns about there impact on these important resources. The goal of this project is to define the nutrients in the ponds and provide an understanding of their contribution to the quality of the water in the watershed and in each pond. The project will recommend wastewater management techniques for protecting the drinking water and the ponds themselves.

The 2005 update of the Flax Pond Analysis reinforces the conclusion reached in 2004 that ecological conditions in the pond are unstable but remain improved since the restoration program was completed in 1999. Total nitrogen and  dissolved nitrogen concentrations suggest that ammonia-nitrogen should be less of a concern but nitrogen sampling including ammonia-nitrogen should continue to be monitored as part of current town activities to ensure observed fluctuations do not worsen.

Harwich Oracle writer Douglas Karlson directed his article in the December 2005 issue to” Skinequit’s Ongoing Pond Study” and comments on Grass and Paddocks Ponds. The information covered in the article is included a link to this web site named “Skinequit Ongoing Pond Study”. The WQTF Pond Subcommittee is grateful to Douglas ’s efforts as several additional volunteers were recruited as a result of the article.

The data collected in 2001 and 2002 is presented in the form of fact sheets and bar graphs in Appendix A. The information is presented pond by pond in alphabetical order. This sequence was chosen, as many of the potential recommendations to be made by this committee will be on an individual pond basis.

The Pond Fact Sheets summarize observable information about a pond that will be useful to determine what can be done to improve water quality. Included are such factors as uses, size, development, signs of road run off, vegetation identification including invasive species, animal life including excessive water fowl, and shoreline characteristics including adequate buffers and possible sources of pollution. The volunteers at each pond were asked to make recommendations for improvement. With this and the measurement and sampling data collected by the volunteers, each pond will be analyzed separately to develop its own individual water quality management program. Table 2 presents a summary of the most significant observations recorded for each pond

The table shows that the current problems perceived by the volunteers are the build up of sediment that substantially contributes to the other top listed concern, weeds. The second tier of this preliminary data are road runoff, the year round presence of waterfowl, and over development. As the observation and scientific data collected continues to grow and be analyzed, potential remedial actions will begin to emerge.

The charts after each pond’s fact sheet show measurements of Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Oxygen Saturation, Water Temperature and Secchi Depth.

• High levels of oxygen in the water are important for maintaining fish and other aquatic life. Low DO is indicative of excessive nutrient loading. DO readings of 5.0 to 6.0 mg/L are desirable. Readings below 3.0 indicate a pond in trouble.

• Oxygen levels are also measured as a percent saturation factor. Percent saturation >125% suggests high respiration from algal blooms, 80 to 125% is excellent, 60 to 79% is okay, and below 60% is poor. The percent oxygen saturation measurements are consistent with DO measurements: the upper water layers are above the 60% criteria, lower layers often drop below the 60% figure.

• The data shows that the surface layers of sampled ponds had acceptable DO levels. The lower depth readings of the deeper ponds were often below the 3mg/L guidance shown above and indicate possible stratification and associated decay of organic matter on the bottom using up oxygen. Readings below 5.0 mg/L at depths greater than 7m are evident in the stratified ponds.

• Temperature is very important as it influences the amount of oxygen that can be dissolved in water. Cool water can hold more oxygen than warm water.

• Secchi level numbers indicate water clarity and are the best single indicator of a pond’s health. The higher the measurement the greater the clarity of the water. Secchi measurements are not valid for shallow ponds as the disk is usually clear to the bottom. In deeper ponds of Harwich, readings in the neighborhood of eight meters were taken. A preliminary threshold for impacted ponds developed by the CCC is below 3.8 meters

• In 2002 field measurement of the ponds pH levels to indicate the acid level of each pond was initiated. Changes in the pH value of water are important to many organisms. Most organisms have adapted to life in water of a specific pH and may die if it changes. At high or low pH values (9.6 or 4.5) water becomes unsuitable for most organisms. Very acidic waters can also cause heavy metals to be released into the water.

Water Sampling and Results

Samples were taken from each pond during September of ’01 and June and September of ’02. Each of the September samples were done in conjunction with the CCC/SMAST PALS program which is sampling hundreds of ponds throughout the Cape. Samples were taken at various depths depending on the total depth of the pond. In ponds of 1m or less one sample was collected at .5 m below the surface. In ponds less than 9 meters a sample was collected at .5m and another 1m above the bottom. In ponds with depths of 9 meters 3 samples were collected (0.5m, 3m and 1m off bottom). In ponds with a depth greater than 9 meters four samples were collected at .5m 3m 9m and 1m of the bottom. The samples were shipped to SMAST for measurements of additional parameters used for comparing the quality of the water in each of our ponds.

Date

Station

Total

Measurment

pH

Alk

TP

TP

TN

TN

Chl-a

Depth (m)

Depth (m)

mgCaCO3

uM

ug/l

uM

mg/l

ug/l

9/12/01

Andrews

8.3

0.5

6.73

6.7

0.33

10.2

42.80

0.60

3.41

8.0

6.54

8.8

0.17

5.26

40.10

0.56

6.17

9/11/02

8.4

0.5

6.64

14.9

0.14

4.33

36.90

0.52

3.66

7.0

6.83

15.3

0.11

3.40

36.40

0.51

1.48

9/12/01

Aunt Edies

1.8

0.5

5.1

0.3

0.33

10.2

15.30

0.21

2.54

6/5/02

1.4

0.5

5.2

ND

ND

56.23

0.79

2.69

9/11/02

1.4

0.5

4.85

<0.5

<0.10

16.10

0.23

16.84

9/14/01

Bucks

8.4

0.50

6.68

7.7

0.27

8.35

21.40

O.30

2.35

7.00

6.9

9.1

1.23

38.03

31.70

0.44

3.15

9/18/02

6.2

0.50

6.83

6.0

<0.10

22.00

0.31

2.08

3.70

6.7

6.1

1.09

33.70

43.90

0.61

1.19

9/12/01

Cornelius

1.6

0.5

4.95

0.4

0.43

13.3

18.40

0.26

0.98

6/5/02

1.9

0.5

5.2

ND

ND

42.60

0.60

0.63

9/11/02

1.7

0.5

4.8

<0.5

<0.10

17.80

0.25

23.41

6/19/02

Flax

3.3

0.5

8.4

ND

ND

71.47

1.00

2.34

4.0

ND

ND

68.82

0.96

3.08

9/18/02

5.2

0.5

8.04

63.8

0.91

5.87

41.30

0.58

2.31

3.9

8.04

64.6

<0.1

46.00

0.64

1.86

9/18/02

Grass

0.9

0.5

6.84

13.15

2.67

82.56

96.80

1.36

13.72

1.0

ND

ND

ND

33.63

9/12/01

Hawksnest

5.5

0.5

4.73

0.0

BDL

9.10

0.13

2.59

4.0

4.82

0.3

0.17

5.29

8.80

0.12

2.30

6/5/02

7.2

0.5

5.0

ND

ND

61.53

0.86

17.44

6.0

ND

ND

50.08

0.70

2.24

9/12/02

8.6

1.0

5.03

0.6

<0.1

6.60

0.09

3.10

4.6

4.96

0.5

0.19

5.87

8.90

0.12

3.74

9/14/01

Hinkley

5.3

0.5

6.33

5.6

0.97

29.99

32.10

0.45

9.57

4.0

59.0

1.07

33.08

31.30

0.44