Update on Lake Garfield Health

Conservation Committee Permits In Monterey, efforts to maintain the ecological and recreational health of Lake Garfield are based on what is referred to as the three-legged stool approach, a collaboration of the Monterey Select Board-appointed Lake Garfield Working Group (LGWG) working with the Monterey Conservation Commission; the non-profit Friends of Lake Garfield (FLG); and the voters of Monterey who help fund science-based projects to control invasive aquatic weeds such as Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM) while acquiring state grants to improve water quality and treat stormwater flowing into Lake Garfield.

Since Lake Garfield is a state designated “great pond,” the Monterey Conservation Commission is empowered by the state to review and approve major activities like aquatic weed control and stormwater treatment that may effect the wetlands of the Commonwealth under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. To obtain approval for a major activity around the lake, the conservation commission requires a comprehensively prepared notice of intent (NOI) document from applicants. As an applicant, the town, represented by the LGWG, submitted a combined or “bundled” NOI to the conservation commission, which was prepared by the lake scientist Hillary Kenyon for both the control of EWM using diver-assisted suction harvesting (DASH) and the seasonal drawdown of the lake to prevent flooding. Besides flood control, the annual drawdown of Lake Garfield starting on November 1 also helps to control other near-shore aquatic weeds that might impair the recreational enjoyment of the lake. In conjunction with the approval of an NOI, an order of conditions (OOC) with special conditions, will be issued by the conservation commission.

The LGWG and FLG are currently awaiting the issuance of the “order of conditions” by the Monterey Conservation Commission. The OOC special conditions are expected to support ongoing DASH work, and to establish and monitor the drawdown depth at the Brewer Pond dam by using a water depth gauge and continuous flow monitor which has been purchased by the Friends of Lake Garfield. The data collected is planned to be made available to regulatory agencies and the public on the Friends of Lake Garfield website at Friends of Lake Garfield. com. In addition, the OOC will require an annual lake health report from our lake scientist Hillary Kenyon. During the summer months, the FLG conducts weekly testing of lake water by monitoring temperature, oxygen content, cyanobacteria sampling and periodic phosphorus monitoring. All this information is shared on the FLG website. The removal of EWM by scuba divers continues to take place twice a year and is coordinated by the LGWG. This year FLG continued to see success with many areas completely cleared of EWM and the remaining areas show decreased density of these aquatic plants. Although scuba divers removing Eurasian watermilfoil during the spring and fall has shown success, annual funding will still be needed to control its spread. The FLG will post both the DASH report and the lake scientist annual report on the FLG website later next month.

A special thank you to LGWG member Dennis Lynch for helping do the hard work coordinating the conservation commission approval and securing state grants to help maintain lake health. One such project is the below-grade construction of a stormwater control and treatment system along a section of Hupi Road to reduce the amount of plant nutrients, including phosphorus, from flowing into the lake. Grant money also supports education and the development of other stormwater treatment efforts such as the above-ground installation of rain or buffer gardens along the lakefront with the approval of private property landowners. Courteny Morehouse, from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, has taken the lead on this initiative and has shared information on these projects through articles in the Monterey News