Lake association plans to tackle invasive plants in Mudge Pond

SHARON — The newly re-formed Mudge Pond Association has received its first grant in its efforts to combat invasive species and water quality issues in the lake.

Andrew Cahill, chair of the Association, met with First Selectman Casey Flanagan and Tim Waldron, a community outreach specialist with Eversource Energy, at the town beach on Tuesday afternoon for the official conferral of a $2,000 Community Grant from the utility company to aid in water chestnut elimination efforts.

“We are that much closer,” Cahill said a few days after the ceremony, remarking the funds are a big step toward realizing the Association’s first action against invasives in the lake.

Cahill said he received a quote for about $10,000 from a reputable environmental consultant, New England Aquatic Services, who would begin the work early this summer.

Newly established colonies of water chestnut are hand-pulled in June and early July before seeds are able to mature and drop, where they may lie dormant in the lakebed for years.

Cahill said that the Association is choosing to start with water chestnut because its extent in the lake is limited, and that removal methods for such small populations are uncontroversial.

“We have five different invasives, but the easiest one is water chestnut,” he said. “The idea is if we can at least address that, that’ll be one less.”

The Association re-formed earlier this year in response to a lake health study conducted by local aquatic ecology consultant group Northeast Aquatic Research LLC, which found the lake is at risk of deteriorating quality alongside the proliferation of invasives.

Substantial populations of Eurasian milfoil, fanwort and curly-leaf pondweed were already detected in the lake, and while the water chestnut numbers were found to be low, it can be very hard to eradicate if it takes hold in the lakebed.

The report stated that controlling the more established species will require aggressive treatments, such as herbicides. For now, though, Cahill said the plan is to start with a “non-controversial win” against water chestnut that will hopefully show residents the Association means business against invasives but also is committed to cooperating with the interests and desires of the townspeople.

Cahill mentioned some more lighthearted summer plans for the lake. He has fond memories of a “fool’s regatta” from his childhood in Jamestown, Rhode Island, where competitors would race across Narragansett Bay in boats made out of anything besides boat materials.

While the idea may not translate directly to Mudge Pond’s semi-private waters and shorelines, Cahill said the Association is dedicated to protecting resident’s enjoyment of the lake in both its ecology and its capacity for summertime fun.