Ponderings Spring 2016

  Spring, 2016 OrleansPondCoalition.org [email protected] PonderingsPresident’s MessageWith our spring Ponderings, the Orleans spend hours working to help our waters in four Selectmen and unanimously byPond Coalition returns to our roots – our so many ways such as taking care of our Orleans voters at Town Meeting. Thisbeloved ponds. Yes, wastewater is in the oysters or restocking over 40,000 Mutt year, as we moved to continue thosenews, it’s important, and there’s plenty to Mitts last year. efforts, two Selectmen refused to supporttalk about. However, let’s be honest, the warrant article based on the“ponds have more fun.” Even our most We also want to congratulate the Nauset Consensus Agreement and suggestedardent wastewater advocates would Regional Middle School staff as they Orleans was moving too quickly to solvechoose to visit a herring run over a four prepare for their third Summer Science our wastewater problem.hour meeting on wastewater. Institute. This is a wonderful program and we encourage families in town to learn OPC disagrees.Spring is here and our OPC teams are more about it. OPC is delighted togetting back to work. Over the next year, continue to support this effort. There will always be another reason tothrough our web site, our monthly on-line delay. At some point, we need to act. OurBulletin, our spring and fall Ponderings, Now, about wastewater . . . waters will continue to degrade andand Celebrate Our Waters we’ll be solving the problem will get more andfeaturing our major ponds in Orleans. Although Orleans continues to work on more expensive.Here, we begin with a primer on ponds wastewater we give the town a mixedand some tales about Pilgrim Lake, back report card. On many To our dismay, twothen and now. fronts, we’ve seen Selectmen then excellent progress. On took theBehind the scenes, OPC’s Pond some, we need to do unprecedented stepProtection Committee has a lot going on. much better. of refusing to placeWe’re continuing our work at Boland Pond the proposedand planning to launch ambitious efforts at Most importantly, we’re warrant article onUncle Harvey’s Pond and at Pilgrim Lake. the town ballot. InWe’re also working with the Cape Cod working together. OPC essence, OrleansCommission to build a database of all the has demonstrated that a minority offreshwater pond monitoring samples taken is a key participant on Selectmen are willing to halt ourin Orleans, Eastham, and Brewster over wastewater efforts.the past 15 years. Making this information the Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panelreadily available and Earlier this week, Sandwich movedeasy to use can only and I’m proud of the Panel and its positive forward with their wastewater plans, citinghelp us understand the settlement between the Environmentalour ponds. and constructive tone. Usually, we agree; Protection Agency (EPA) and the Conservation Law Fund (CLF), forcingI visited Uncle now and then, we disagree; we make good towns on the Cape to act. Governor Baker,Harvey’s last month the EPA, and the CLF have all expressedand am amazed at decisions, along with a few mistakes. doubts about towns acting as wastewaterhow much I learned management agencies. Will the regulatorsabout how everything Some outsiders step in and take over? Hopefully, not. Ispeople do affects our waters. Stormwater, there a chance they will? Absolutely! CLFfertilizers, invasive plants, septic systems, criticize the work being has done so in Boston and they have saidfreshwater marshes, drainage, and other they will act on the Cape. Given thefactors all contributed to last year’s algae done, but I applaud stakes, why would anyone bet they won’t?bloom at Uncle Harvey’s. As our boardreminds me, OPC’s primary mission is everyone involved for As of this writing, the Board of Selectmeneducation, whether about herring runs or has agreed to continue efforts throughthe importance of dandelions to our critical their dedication in October when we’ll have a fall townpollinators. If more and more of us meeting to consider next steps.understand these challenges, it’s easy to crafting a solution forbe optimistic. It will take some work, but OPC urges voters to support this plan. Aswe certainly can reverse the decline of our Orleans. limited as this effort is, we can’t afford anyponds. more delays. This year, Orleans isWe’re also highlighting OPC At Work, working with an Jim McCauleyrecognizing the many volunteers who excellent team from AECOM. As you’ll President, Orleans Pond Coalition read later, we’ve made quite a bit of [email protected] progress in refining our plans, in evaluating possible disposal sites, in identifying demonstration projects for non- traditional technologies, in understanding the financial model, and in other areas. This year’s analysis is much more specific and substantive than the preliminary work we’ve done in the past two years. While there’s a lot of positive news to report with these efforts, OPC is troubled by recent steps taken by the Orleans Board of Selectmen. Last year’s Consensus Agreement was supported by  

  Ponds 101 Page 2   By Sandy BayneOur sparkling (and sometimes not so phosphorus moves slowly through its directly from a lawn adds anothersparkling) freshwater ponds have been watershed to its eventual resting place, significant measure of phosphorus andcalled the soul of the Cape, the eye about three feet per year. nitrogen.revealing the aquifer below. Once phosphorus reaches ponds, it is Finally, pet and farm animal waste containWe celebrate these ponds throughout the difficult to remove because freshwater concentrated nutrients which storm wateryear. In summer, healthy ponds are our ponds on Cape Cod have few outlets and can carry into ponds.refuge when beaches are too crowded or the ponds rarely flush. As a result,too sunny. Our fishing holes, our kayaking phosphorus builds up in the sediments at There is good news however.and canoeing spots, and our nature labs. the bottom of the pond.In winter, our skating rinks! Year round, Unlike the Cape Cod Commission “208”they are places of peace and Thus begins a cycle: as phosphorous plan, which dealt only with estuaries, thecontemplation. flows into a pond in the cooler months it Orleans wastewater management plan, settles and is bound in the pond now being carefully revised in light ofTo put our ponds in context, we start with sediments. Water temperature changes in possible alternatives to sewering in somesome background on their place in our the spring and spring and summer winds areas, will include a freshwater pondswatery world, and then discuss their stir up the sediments and make the management plan.problems as well. phosphorus available to algae for their warm weather growth. As algae blooms This is a much welcome addition, as it isLet’s begin with the concept of watershed. vital that our ponds (our souls, our eyesAll ponds are grow, they block light in the into the aquifer) receive the same attentionthe low point of pond and cause plants in as do our estuaries.a watershed, the water to die and fall towhich is defined the bottom where micro- For our part, OPC will be presenting aas that area organisms use oxygen to fertilizer education program this year whichwithin which all decompose the plant will provide information about the newwater flows to material. This process state fertilizer regulations and will suggestthe same low depletes oxygen in the pond alternatives to big green lawns, whichpoint. Estuaries and causes fish and contribute to those murky green ponds!and ocean are shellfish kills.also low points OPC also will review and bring to publicof watersheds. This process must be attention the nearly complete town storm interrupted to keep ponds in the state we water drain study and the updated townIn fact, all land falls into a watershed, so all humans enjoy, while still leaving nurturing fertilizer use study.of us have a watershed address! Do you space for the natural ecology of the pond.know yours? As the ecology of the We will also continue to advocate for the pond requires some health of specificWhy is the concept of watershed so nutrients, it is truly a ponds, continuingrelevant? Because the problems of a pond balancing act. our work atderive from activity in its watershed. Such Boland Pond andhuman activities as use of septic systems, There are both preventive ramping up ourfertilizing, and creating roads which send and remedial ways in education andpollutants through drains to ponds and which the freshwater advocacy work atestuaries are the principal controllable ponds can be protected. Uncle Harvey’ssources. In this article we discuss Pond and Pilgrim preventive measures. Lake.As you may have noticed, while ponds areclear in April, by midsummer some are On Cape Cod, we can control the human Look for our May and June “Water Wateropaque and green with algae, unpleasant deposits contributing to the bulk of the Everywhere” pieces on Uncle Harvey’sto swim or boat in. Last summer, one problem. Pond in the Cape Codder, and see pageOrleans pond was closed because of the 7 of this Ponderings for our inauguralpresence of toxic algae. Septic systems are the source of almost piece, which is on the much loved Pilgrim 80% of controllable phosphorus and Lake.These unpleasant events occur because nitrogen on Cape Cod.our freshwater ponds suffer the same ill You can begin to do your part byeffects of excess nutrients as do our Road and paved driveway run off cause a attending Orleans Town Meeting on Mayestuaries. While excess nitrogen is the significant additional amount. When it 9 at the Nauset Regional Middle Schoolnutrient blamed for our estuary problems, rains, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, oil, and voting for the funding articles whichexcess phosphorus is the troublesome gas and soaps run quickly off paved will allow Orleans to move forward onnutrient for fresh water. surfaces to a low point at the nearest wastewater solutions. water bodyUnlike nitrogen which flows rapidly through We can do this together!its watershed at about a foot per day, Fertilizer running down an unpaved driveway or seeping into the water table  

  Leading the Way With Education Page 3   By Karin Delaney and Karen PiersonLed by its Education Committee, OPC continues its support of the Nauset Regional Middle School's Summer Science Institute, whichoffers students hands-on environmental and technology experience in the service of our fragile marine and freshwater environment. The mission of this program is two-fold: to increase all students' interest in Environmental Science careers and, particularly, to encourage more female student participants, who have traditionally been less involved in this field. OPC was a founding financial sponsor of the Institute, which began in 2014, with an initial focus on students building remote controlled submersible robots and using them to test the water quality of our local ponds, later producing public service videos to share their findings with the community. This year, the 2016 Summer Institute will expand its focus to include the environmental connections between Air, Land and Sea.As described in Ponds 101, OPC educational efforts will be broadening this year, with downloadable information on a variety of actionseach of us can take to protect our waters, including sustainable landscaping, an educational mission shared by several other Capeorganizations. This will be available on our newly redesigned website and at local forums such as Celebrate Our Waters, including:alternatives to traditional lawns, protecting pollinators, the 'why' of native plants 'with a purpose', and the rules and reasons underlyingthe 2012 state fertilizer regulations and the more stringent local counterparts to stop chemical runoff into our already degrading waters.So wouldn't it just be easier to find an alternative to a hungry lawn? Why not look at some of the new easy-care Cape Cod lawnsyou've probably heard about in local papers? The time you save from mowing and fertilizing will open up more time to kayak, fish,hike and \"celebrate\" our waters! And, it will give you time to go to the Orleans Town Meeting on May 9th to vote for clean waters andwastewater progress.Look to OPC for more information on what you can do as we gather, develop and share these educational materials. Ask the Osprey: What can we do to prevent lawn fertilizers from contaminating our ponds and estuaries?  By Hank SchumacherFertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus negatively affect our ponds as they move from lawns into the watershed and into ourponds and estuaries. All forms of nitrogen fertilizers and phosphorus promote plant growth including algae in our waters.With little fanfare, Orleans has put into effect our new, stronger bylaw to reduce the effect of fertilizer runoff into our ponds, lakes, andestuaries. Like most towns, Orleans will initially rely on educating people about the new bylaw rather than attempt to launch a strictenforcement program. Here are some key points to remember as we move into our spring and early summer growing season.  Commercial lawn fertilizers can only applied during the active growing season, from April 15th through October 15th;  Before applying any commercial fertilizer on your lawn, gardens, trees, or shrubs, test your soil for an analysis of the nutrients that are needed depending on the type of crop and lawn grown. The UMass Extension in Amherst provides this service. For more information, visit soiltest.umass.edu.  You should not apply fertilizer within 100 feet of a wetland or water bodies;  Each application of fertilizer is limited to 0.5 pounds nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, up to 1 pound nitrogen per year;  You should never apply fertilizer immediately before a heavy rainfall.New fertilizer bylaws and regulations are taking effect across the Cape and we’ve found that many homeowners, private landscapers,and commercial lawn services are only now becoming aware of the new restrictions. Homeowners should talk with their landscaper orlawn service about the bylaw and about using pesticide-free organic slow-release fertilizers whenever possible.OPC recommends that you only have a Cape Cod type lawn that won’t require annual nitrogen and phosphorus applications. Plantingdrought resistant fescue and perennial ryegrass varieties rather than Kentucky Bluegrass varieties will provide a lawn that doesn’trequire irrigation and pesticides to control insects and diseases. Furthermore, living on Cape Cod with our watersheds that flow intoour ponds and estuaries, we are the stewards of these water resources for future generations. With fewer Kentucky Bluegrass greenlawns and irrigation systems we can help preserve our water bodies from becoming contaminated with algae growth and you canmanage your landscape and protect our fragile waters by using less nitrogen and phosphorus.  

  OPC At Work Page 4   Mutt Mitts OPC’s Oysters   By Gerry Dorman The Pleasant Bay Alliance first put Mutt Mitt dispensers up at OPC supports oysters for Orleans because they do their landings on Pleasant Bay back in 2001. OPC took over those share to clean up our waters. Although Orleans has active dispensers and began expanding the program in 2003. Today, commercial oyster farming (\"aquaculture\"), there is little in 35 volunteers keep 53 dispensers stocked. Last year, the way of public oyster beds. considerate dog owners used over 40,000 mitts to keep our beaches, landings, open spaces, and public areas free of dog Therefore, for four years, OPC has helped to improve the waste. oyster situation here by raising tiny oysters in an upweller at the Arey's Pond Boat Yard. When they are grown to an inch We love having our dogs accompany us as we enjoy the or two, they are turned over to the care of Nate Sears, the beautiful natural resources of Orleans and Mutt Mitts help make Orleans Shellfish Constable (and Natural Resources that possible. Dog waste threatens our waters in two ways: by Officer), and put in the town's one oyster reef. bacterial pollution of beaches and shellfish beds and by adding nitrogen and phosphorous loads to our estuaries and ponds. For more information or to participate, contact Gerry Help us keep our open spaces open to dogs and our waters Dorman at [email protected]. protected from waste: Please pick up after your dog and take the Mitt with you. OPC pays top dollar for Mutt Mitts because they OPC’s Oysters would not be possible without the do not leak waste or odor and they are biodegradable. Please generous support of Arey’s Pond Boat Yard. Thank you! toss the mitt in your trunk and place it in the trash when you get home. Thank you! There’s Lots More! The Orleans Pond Coalition would like to thank Judith … and we can use the help. Bruce for managing this program and Agway of Orleans, Join OPC at OrleansPondCoalition.org to help us continue this work. Orleans Animal Hospital, and Nauset Disposal for their Send a note to [email protected] to ongoing support of the Mutt Mitts program. subscribe to our online Bulletin. OPC would also like to thank Alan and Virginia George of Nauset Heights for their generous donation to OPC and to Mutt Mitts. Join AmeriCorps for an Orleans Beach and Bay Clean Up! Where: At the upper parking lot across from the Orleans town offices (139 Main Street, Orleans). When: May 7th 2016. Registration from 10:00 am - 10:30 am. At 10:30, groups head out to various locations. Bags for trash will be provided. Please bring gloves or grabbers if you have them. When we get together, the volunteers will fan out to various locations in town to pick up marine debris. Afterwards, everyone will return to the town lot for a picnic lunch. This event is being sponsored by Barnstable County's AmeriCorps Cape Cod, with the help of OPC, Orleans Conservation Trust, the Town of Orleans, and the Friends of Pleasant Bay. Questions? Contact Leah Mould at [email protected]. Renew today, through the mail or at OrleansPondOrganization.org Ask the Osprey: Why should I welcome dandelions?  By Karen Pearson Did you know dandelions are a pollinator’s best friend? They are often the first flower seen in the spring and the last in the autumn, both critical times with a shortage of nectar plants for bees, butterflies and foraging pollinators. In Orleans, dandelions survived last week's untimely snows which wilted other nectar flowers. If you must remove them, manual removal will prevent nasty chemicals from further degrading our lawns and our waters, but you might heed the plea of the esteemed British newspaper, The Guardian, who begged readers last May to high cut a lawn or wait for several weeks for the first spring cut to let the golden flowers save a few bees. Many US universities now echo this, so nicely explained by columnist Kate Bradford: \"While in flower for most of the year, the dandelion’s peak flowering time is from late March to May, when many bees and other pollinators emerge from hibernation. Every flower consists of up to 100 florets, each one packed with nectar and pollen. This early, easily available, source of food is a lifesaver for pollinators in spring.\" Food for thought?  

The Orleans Pond Coalition’s2016 Business & Community MembersThank You for Supporting OPC’s Programs to Improve Our Waters!A Little Inn on Pleasant Bay Friends of Rock Harbor Nauset Model Sailing Club Academy Ocean Grill Goff Brothers Construction Nauset Newcomers Biking Club Addison Art Gallery Goose Hummock Shop OceanaAdvanced Family Dentistry Grand View Properties Association Orleans Camera & Video Agway of Cape Cod Orleans Chamber of Commerce Halcyon Farm Orleans Conservation TrustAnimal Hospital of Orleans Hersey Clutch Company Orleans Farmer’s Market Architectural Design, Inc. Hole-in-One Breakfast & Lunch Orleans Historical Society Arey’s Pond Boat Yard Homeport RestaurantAssociation to Preserve Cape Cod Homewatch, Inc Orleans Improvement AssociationAtlantic White Shark Conservancy Honey Candle Company Orleans Waterfront InnBalanced 4 Fitness Hot Chocolate Sparrow Orleans Whole Food StoreBartlett Tree Experts J. M. O’Reilly & Associates Orleans Wine & SpiritsBennett & Waful Psychotherapy Kid & Kaboodle Orleans Yacht ClubBeth Bishop Kinlin Grover Real Estate Orleans Yoga Bird Watcher’s General Store Lake Farm Garden Peno Realty Company Blue Claw Boat Tours Land Ho! Pleasant Bay Community Boating Brewster Ponds Coalition Liam’s at Nauset Beach Prestige Dry Cleaners Cape Associates, Inc. Littlefield Landscaping Queen of Orleans Lobster Claw Restaurant Ragg Time, Ltd. Cape Cod Brokerage, Inc Realty by the Sea Cape Cod Coastal Realty Local Scoop Cape Cod Commercial Hook Mahoney’s Atlantic Bar & Grill Rock Creek Oysters Mark Anderson Home Services Rock Harbor Grill Fisherman’s Alliance Massachusetts Audubon Society Ryder & WilcoxCape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Mayflower Point Association Mill Pond Preservation Association Sara’s Hair Etcetera Cape Kayaking Ship’s Knees Inn Cape Rental World N. Y. Hair Company & Spa Sir Speedy Center for Coastal Studies Namequoit Sailing Association Snow’s Home & Garden Changes Salon Nauset Disposal Sunbird Coastal Engineering Company Nauset Heights Association SUPfari Adventures Earth House Nauset Marine The Collaborative, Inc F. L. Quinn Construction The Cove Motel Fitness Revolution The Karlson Group at William Raveis Flowers by Mary French Cable Station Real Estate Friends’ Marketplace Towhee Lane Association Friends of Arey’s Pond Friends of Baker’s Pond Treescapes Cape Cod Friends of Crystal Lake Von Thaden Builders, Inc. Friends of Lonnie’s Pond Friends of Pleasant Bay Watson’s Wilkinson & Associates Real Estate Wilkinson Ecological Design, Inc.OPC Encourages Everyone to Support These Local Businesses Shop Where You See the OPC Decal

  Wastewater In Orleans Page 6  At last year’s Town Meeting, Orleans Todd Thayer, a local Orleans developer, considered last year. AECOM and thevoters unanimously approved the has begun to show us how to make this Panel are proposing several aquacultureConsensus Agreement produced by the vision a reality with his proposed mixed projects including an oyster reefOrleans Water Quality Advisory Panel. use Orleans Marketplace development. restoration in Pleasant Bay, theThe Panel includes the Orleans We look forward to watching this exciting development of an oyster bed in aSelectmen, representatives from OPC and project move forward. Pleasant Bay saltwater pond, and aother leading organizations in town, and quahog bed sanctuary in town Cove. It willliaisons to several town boards, Brewster, The Consensus Agreement called for be exciting to see Orleans move forwardEastham, the Pleasant Bay Alliance, the with these projects.Department of Environmental Protection, Orleans to deploy conventional seweringand the Cape Cod Commission. We remain optimistic about Permeable in the center of town and at Meetinghouse Reactive Barriers. We’re hoping to deploy a demonstration PRB near the town landfill Pond. AECOM did quite a bit of work to to intercept nitrogen travelling towards Town Cove. We also expect to install a flush out these plans and to evaluate PRB near Eldredge Field.The agreement represented a significant potential effluent disposal locations. They At this point, we’re less certain about the prospects for Floating Constructedmilestone for Orleans and an important also completed very sophisticated water Wetlands. AECOM looked at these in considerably more detail and found thatvalidation of the Cape Cod’s 208 Plan flow modeling analyzing the potential the projected costs were considerably higher than we expected. We’ll look atUpdate from 2014. The agreement called impact of any discharge into the Little these in a bit more detail but we are also looking at other emerging technologies tofor Orleans to Namskaket possibly fill that gap.tackle its watershed and To support all these potential solutions, AECOM developed a sophisticatedwastewater into possible financial model projecting capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, sourcesissues with a discharge sites of funds, and possible alternatives to allocate those costs to the community.mix of in East Orleans. This model is proving to be a valuable tool for the planners, the selectmen, theconventional While the engineers as they continue their analysis.sewering and engineers have The Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel hopes to develop and approve an Adaptedemerging non- not yet selected Consensus Agreement, highlighting the decisions that have been made and thetraditional a final site, the plans for next year. When this document is reviewed and approved, OPC willtechnologies. analysis showed distribute a special on-line Bulletin summarizing the result with a link to theThis year, less than a 1% actual agreement.Orleanscontinued to increase inmove ahead. After several months work,Orleans selected AECOM as the freshwaterengineering firm to drive this year’s work.AECOM put together an impressive team flowing into the marsh.and has taken our preliminary decisionsfrom last year forward significantly. The agreement calls for Orleans to build a new facility at the Tri-Town site to handleTo make sure that Orleans can still qualify both septage and sewage. During the pastfor zero percent loans from the State year, the three towns voted to shut downRevolving Fund, AECOM revisited the the existing Tri-Town site and that facilityvision for Orleans Town Center and will only be available until June 1st. Thispresented it to the town in two public leaves some confusion about the septagemeetings. This vision confirms the decision marketplace and those conversations willOrleans has made in the past that we’re continue into next year.looking forward to a more dynamic andvibrant Town Center. Unless we’re able to At this point, AECOM is concentrating onbring more mixed use development to the Town Center, the non-traditionaldowntown, workers and young families will demonstration projects, and the financialcontinue to leave town because they model to support those efforts. Currentsimply can’t afford to live here. plans are to hold off on sewering Meeting- house Pond, at least for now. We now know considerably more about the non-traditional technologies we Don’t forget to vote! At Town Meeting on May 9th, and at the Polls on May 17th.  

  Pilgrim Lake Page 7   By Sandy BayneWe hope you’ve seen our comprehensive $1500 an acre, remembers that her mom, of old phosphorus from the sediments.Cape Codder “Water Water Everywhere” a scientist, loved the idea that Pilgrim Lake Further, the report predicted that Pilgrimarticles on Boland Pond. What follows is was connected to Lonnie’s Pond (a salt Lake had the potential to slip in a fewthe second stop on our tour of Orleans pond) by a herring run. She reasoned that decades from the rating of “somewhatfreshwater ponds. So drift lazily around the the Norsemen, reputed to be herring impacted” by nutrients to “heavilylake with us now. fishermen, knew that herring spawn in impacted” by nutrients. freshwater, and so may have followed theMuch loved Pilgrim is the largest of herring run from salt water to the lake, in Could careful maintenance and upgradingOrleans’ freshwater ponds at 43 acres and order to have freshwater for their next of septic systems, reduction in fertilizer34 feet to bottom at its deepest point. Its V use, creation of vegetated shoreline bufferor almost heart journey. She also plantings, and correction of storm watershape is punctuated recalled that the town runoff help the lake?by a small island. landing was used in the winter by duck hunters, Two abutters with great respect for theLong time residents and the island had a lake, gardener and environmentalist Beth duck blind in earlier Minear and her husband Larry, created atell fascinating years. shoreline vegetated buffer of native plants at their lakeside home, where a steepstories of the old bank had been invaded by exotic plants. These native plants hold the soil, absorbdays at Pilgrim. Scott, who has been the nutrients running toward the lake, and, herring warden atScott Johnson, Pilgrim Lake for 35 being part of years, knows there are harbor the localwhose family has seals in Lonnie’s Pond, waiting for the herring to move through ecosystem,owned a 1780’s half cape on Monument to the lake. These protected need less seals share herring with foxes, water thanSt. for 70 years, describes his summer gulls, ospreys and an otter! many non And certainly any remaining native plants.days on the lake. In the 40’s, Scott snappers like herring as well. After Beth As warden, he has regulated received theremembers, one could see across the lake the water level in the lake to help the spawning herring enter the lake in enthusiasticto the ocean from his home here. As a spring and leave it in the fall, their job permission of the Conservation done. Commission, it took about 5 years to gochild, he was awakened by the dawn bugle from the tiny plants you see in the early photo to reach the beauty you see in thesounding at Namequoit Sailing Camp current photo. Joining the existing wonderfully scented summersweet, thereacross the lake, and ended his day are elegant oak leafhearing the Camp taps. Swimming lessons hydrangea, both black fruited and red fruitedhave been given on the town landing for hollies, beach plum, high and low bush blueberries,many years, and in earlier days, the groundcover bearberry and sweet fern, not a fern at all.students were accompanied by Oscar, the Joining these shrubs are native grasses such asvery large snapping turtle who lived, little blue stem and the wonderful rosy flowered Joe Pye weed,bedecked with fishing lures, under the named after an Indian medicine man.dock. In fact, In keeping with the thinking When long time residents were asked It’s time to find out what we can do for our ponds. Follow the Orleans Pond Coalition,of that time, Pam Herrick remembers her recently what changes they have or better yet join us, in our work to gather more information about the condition of1940’s self washing her hair in the lake observed, they mentioned that although each of our ponds and learn more about what each of us can do to help improveafter a salt water swim and hoping the swimming their health.boys wouldn’t see her! lessons are stillIn Scott’s youth, the lake had multiple given there, theseason human uses. There were two weekice fishing derbies which even off-Capers dock hasflocked to, catching pickerel, smallmouthed bass and perch. When ice disintegrated,fishermen were out there, others knew itwas safe to skate. Scott also remembers and Oscar hasn’tthe dramatic day in 1967 when a floatplane owned by Frank Joy clipped a wing been seen in aon takeoff and fell upside down in thewater. Everyone lived to tell the tale. long time. TheScott’s parents and grandparents liked tofarm and, as early environmentalists, used ice skating andonly sawdust to fertilize the hundreds ofblueberry bushes they planted adjacent to ice fishing rarelythe lake; these form a good shorefrontvegetated buffer today. occur now as there are fewer weeks of ice. Camp Namequoit is gone. Water clarity has declined.Liz DeLima, whose teacher parents could The 2007 pond study done for Orleans byafford to purchase pond front property in the Cape Cod Commission confirmed thethe 1950’s because it could be had for lake faces problems with excess nutrients. Commission staff reported then that the average phosphorus level in the lake exceeded the healthy level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) by almost 50%, or 14.6 ppb at one meter down. Of that, about half came from septic systems and half from release  

rleans Pond Coalition Non Profit Org US Postage PdPO Box 2485, Orleans, MA 02653-2485 Orleans Postal Patron 02653 Permit #20 Page 8Save the Dates Who Are We? Celebrate Our Waters Ponderings is a publication of the Orleans Pond Coalition, a September 16, 17, 18 501(c)(3) membership organization in Orleans, Massachusetts, dedicated to preserving the quality of our local waterways.Plan on joining us for Celebrate Our Waters at thebeach, on our ponds, hiking, biking, and throughout Editors of this issue:Orleans. Something for everyone. Eileen Godin, Sandy Bayne, Karen Pierson, Jim McCauley OPC Board of Directors: Jim McCauley (President), Sandy Bayne (Vice President), John Ostman(Treasurer), Patricia Fallender (Secretary) Alison Wilkinson, Anne Sigsbee, Betsy Furtney, Christal Hopkins, Eileen Godin, Gerry Dorman, Hank Schumacher, Jack Millard, Jim Robertson, Karin Delaney, Larry Minear, Laura Kelley, Len Short, Sheila Bonnell, Vincent Zdanowicz VOTE! At Town Meeting Monday, May 9th Nauset Regional Middle School At the Polls Tuesday, May 17th Orleans Senior Citizens Center