Chilmark State of the Pond Reports:
Year 2023
Year 2020
Year 2019
Watershed
The 3,500-acre watershed is completely in Chilmark.
Pond
The pond has an area of 146 to 242 acres, a mean depth of 2.1 feet, and a tidal range of 0.5 feet.
Water Quality
The MVC categorized this pond as Impaired. Historically eelgrass is not known to be in the pond. The pond has a high nitrogen load, very low transparency, and few oysters.
Up-Island 208 Project
The 208 Equivalency Report (aka Up-Island Management plan) is a comprehensive review of water quality and habitat conditions in five Up-Island watersheds. The information presented in the report is intended to provide criteria to Up-Island communities as they establish baseline assessment of existing conditions and finalize their nitrogen mitigation plans.
- 208 Individual System Assessment (ISA) Report
- 208 ISA Appendix
- Potential Solutions Report
- Watershed Habitat Restoration - Meeting our Nitrogen Reduction Goals
Massachusetts Estuaries Project Study
The MEP report (below) found that the pond is impaired, but that a 15% reduction in controllable nitrogen loading in the pond or a 32% reduction in nitrogen in wastewater would solve the problem. They thought the objective could be achieved by increasing the number and length of breaches to the pond each year. Also, since the density is low, the use of Innovative Alternative wastewater treatment systems could be enough to lower the nitrogen levels from wastewater to acceptable levels.
Implementation
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Regular pond openings and aquaculture projects help to improve water quality.
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A “Floating Islands” pilot project has been installed in an attempt to increase microbial denitrification and to act as an artifical wetland.