2005
State of the Pond
Friends of Sengekontacket, Inc., P.O. Box 740, Edgartown, MA. 02539, www.sengekontacket.org
Restoration of Eel Grass Meadows and Bay Scallop Habitat in Sengekontacket Pond
The Friends of Sengekontacket,
Inc. (FOS) has been active in attempts to restore the bay scallop
habitat in
Sengekontacket Pond.
Working with town officials and Bill Wilcox from the
Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC), FOS has participated in a three part program
of restoration, science and education. Eel grass, a species of sea grass, is
both a keystone and an indicator species. Therefore, eel grass can be thought
of as the “proverbial canary in the coal mine,” in that it is indicative of
water quality. Eel grass is an essential element in the bay scallop habitat and
both scallops and eel grass have been disappearing from Sengekontacket and other
estuaries on Cape Cod and the Islands. The last remaining eel grass meadow in
Sengekontacket is a tiny patch at the end of Major’s Cove. In 2004 and 2005
bags of seeds were suspended over sandy spots with a water depth of 1 to 2
meters. Our joint efforts to seed eel grass in the Pond in 2004 have not yet
proven successful and we are now investigating new methods and improving the
methodology. In 2005, the Wilcox team made available a total of 80,000 eel grass
seeds at 8 locations in the Pond. The 2005 seeds will not germinate until
November to January 2006. Eel grass requires 20% of ambient light for survival
and prefers water one to two meters deep. A contradiction is that clarity in
Sengekontacket is good. The seeds all came from an eel grass meadow in Trapp’s
Pond. It is hoped that the acceptance of Sengekontacket in the Massachusetts
Estuaries Program (MEP) will give us additional answers and direction. The MEP
uses the nutrient values acceptable for continued growth of an eel grass meadow
as measure of estuary health.
To increase public awareness, and with funding from the Farm Neck Association and Vineyard Open Land Foundation, FOS with the leadership of environmental educator Christina Miller, designed a community outreach and education project. Throughout the summer, a large threefold exhibit about eel grass was displayed at the Oak Bluffs and Edgartown Libraries. On September 1, 2005, FOS sponsored a well attended public forum at Felix Neck on the restoration of eel grass meadows and the bay scallop habitat. Speakers included Phil Colarusso, Marine Biologist, US EPA, Charles Costello-Section Chief, MA DEP, Gus Ben David, Director of Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, and William Wilcox, Water Resources Planner, MVC and moderator Christina Miller. Eel grass education will continue during the school year in the Oak Bluffs and Edgartown schools and MVRHS with FOS providing material for science teachers.
Massachusetts Estuaries Program
At
the spring town meetings of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, the entrance of the
Sengekontacket Pond into the Massachusetts Estuary Program was approved and
funded. The pledge from the towns was $59,000 in cash and in-kind
services. Volunteers from FOS accelerated entrance of Sengekontacket into
the program by collection in 2004 of required new water test data. This
project will combine water quality data, nutrient loading, and hydrodynamic
information for Sengekontacket to identify management options to assure a
sustainable resource. This information will be combined through the use of
linked watershed/estuary computer models that will predict the water quality
changes or results from land use in the watershed and sub-regional areas.
MVC’s Bill Wilcox estimates that a report for Sengekontacket Pond could be
expected by late 2006. A similar study is nearing completion for the
Edgartown Great Pond. You can see what to expect for Sengekontacket Pond
in a completed study for Popponesset Bay online:
http://www.oceanscience.net/estuaries/Popponesset.htm. The web site is also helpful
to understand the benefits and limitations of the program. An early product of
the project will be a computer model that will help town and county government
design a dredging program for the Pond. The “Friends” has pledged an additional
$2,500 and obtained a grant for $2,500 from the Edey Foundation for additional
studies. Bill Wilcox reported that field tests seem to indicate that parameters
for the pond have remained stable and the health of the pond could be considered
as moderate.
2005 Report on Testing and Analysis
Bill Wilcox, Water Resource Planner, Martha’s Vineyard
Commission, has furnished the following testing information:
As part of the Massachusetts Estuaries Program (MEP) samples were obtained from Sengekontacket and Trapp’s Ponds and sent to the UMASS Coastal Systems Group laboratory for analysis. During the summer, nine stations in Sengekontacket were sampled four times and one in Trapp’s pond was sampled three times. David Grunden, Oak Bluffs Shellfish constable assisted with the data collection. Emma Green-Beach, UMass Dartmouth Senior, was project field assistant and processed samples for analyses for dissolved nutrients, chlorophyll a and particulate carbon and nitrogen for shipment. Blind duplicate samples were sent with each batch of samples allowing an evaluation of the accuracy of the results. Mr. Wilcox said the results from the analysis should be available by the end of the year.
The Wilcox team also collected field data using an YSI 85
multi-parameter
meter, Secchi disk and other field observations. This was the
same technique used by the FOS samplers in 2004. Sampling was carried out in
June, July and August. Water clarity, as determined with a Secchi disk, was good
and in excess of 2 meters. This indicates that light penetration to the bottom
is probably adequate for growth of eel grass over a considerable portion of
Sengekontacket Pond. Eel grass requires a minimum 20% light penetration while
phytoplankton and large algae have a light requirement in the single digits.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation was over 60% in the deeper depths of the Pond.
The lowest values of DO were found off the Boulevard near the Town of Edgartown
landing, at the north end of the Pond off Brush Island and inner Major’s Cove
where circulation is reduced and nutrient loading from wastewater and other
sources is higher.
With support from FOS, the Oak Bluffs Shellfish Department was awarded a Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management grant to conduct nitrogen isotope ratio analysis to better define the source of consumed nitrogen in Sengekontacket Pond. Sampling is nearing an end and Shellfish Constable Grunden expects results in the fall.
Early this summer we had a near miss of the largest red tide event ever recorded in Massachusetts. The red tide in the northeast does not harm shellfish, but can be very dangerous to humans who eat infected shellfish by paralyzing their respiratory system. The shellfish concentrate a neuro-toxin by eating a specific species of phytoplankton that produce the toxin.
Excessive growth of the large drifts of wrack algae has been observed at the bottom in Major’s Cove and at the north end of the Pond as well as in landside embayment areas south of the main inlet. These algae can impact water resources by drifting into potential and historic eelgrass meadows where they intercept the light and smother eel grass seedlings or into deeper areas where they remove the oxygen from the water as they decay. Because of the eel grass seeding program, the team observed wrack algae more closely this year. At four of the 2005 eel grass seeding locations, the bottom was covered by 1 to 2 feet of drift algae. The cause may be related to the excessive spring rain adding nutrients, the lack of rainfall during July and August that would otherwise reduce the amount of phytoplankton in the water column allowing greater light penetration, or the lack of flushing due to early spring closure of the Little Bridge channel. The MEP Water quality analyses may offer better clues to understanding this problem by indicating the amount of phytoplankton and nutrients in the water column.
The Barrier Beach
During
the year, FOS Directors and “Friends” have often met with Dukes County officials
to discuss barrier beach issues. The most
recent
meeting was on August 25, 2005 with County Manager E. Winn Davis. The
Dukes County Sheriff has assumed management responsibility and budget for all
the county beaches. That includes maintenance, enforcement, and access
control. New post and rail fence were installed on both the Pond and Nantucket
Sound side designating access points. A major accomplishment in 2005 was the
successful dredging of the Little Bridge Channel. During the summer of 2005, the
barrier beach has functioned well as an element of the Sengekontacket system and
as a recreational facility.
The Barrier Beach Task Force (BBTF), co-chaired by County
Manager Winn Davis and FOS Advisory Board member Christina Miller was
established in 1993. It is composed of members from the towns of Oak Bluffs and
Edgartown, County officials, Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD), Martha’s
Vineyard Commission, state and federal environmental agencies, FOS and the
Senior Environmental Corps. Examples of issues which come before the BBTF are
dredging of inlets, erosion and beach
nourishment, recreational use, protection
of rare species during nesting, and handicapped access. FOS Advisor Don
Cullivan prepared an outline in 2004 for a comprehensive Barrier Beach
Management Plan. It was proposed that a professional project manager coordinate
the development of the plan. A lack of county and state funding made that
proposal impossible. County Manger Winn Davis wishes to move forward and
requested that FOS rescale the plan to be accomplished with volunteer help and
funding other than the county. We agreed to develop a new proposal for a plan
of implemental segments.
Construction Planned for Replacement of Beach Road Bridges
The “Friends” has closely monitored the progress of the replacement of the Big and Little Bridges on Beach Road. FOS has been informed that both bridges will probably be bid by the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD) during late fall of 2005 with construction to begin in the fall of 2006. It will take two years to complete construction. Two-way, two lane traffic will be maintained during the summer season and two-way, one lane traffic in the off season will be controlled by solar powered traffic lights. The collective goal of the governmental community and FOS was replacement bridges that were graceful, attractive, safe, useful, and contribute to the recreational environment. There have been compromises but many of our suggestions have been incorporated in the design by the MHD and we intend to closely watch the process throughout construction. The Big Bridge will be as long as the present bridge and have four 60 foot spans. The fascia railing and the pedestrian walkway on both sides will be timber. A welcome addition will be a 60 foot timber fishing platform accessed from the walkway on both the Sengekontacket Pond and Vineyard Sound sides. The walkway and fishing pier will be an overhang that will partially shield the concrete beams from view. MHD has used timber attractively on the approaches to the bridge in order to blend with the present appearance of the Beach Road. The bikeway will be separated from the walkway by a curb and from the traveled way by a low safety barrier. The wearing surface of the traveled way and bikeway will be blacktop. An open issue is the architectural treatment of the wing walls. Several proposals have surfaced from the MHD including a sculptured look to blend with the natural stone rip rap. The Little Bridge will have one 60 foot span with a similar cross section and appearance as the Big Bridge. The waterway clearance of both the Little and Big Bridge will be somewhat greater than present. FOS has been pleased with the environmental awareness and professional skill of Dukes County Engineer Stephen Berlucchi. He has been a very effective coordinator for the Vineyard.
Focus on Proactive Land Use in the Watershed
An assumption is that the gradual demise of our Pond is
partially from development within the watershed. Sengekontacket has a large
watershed area. We are lucky that the Pond flushes as well as it does, but the
Pond is still paying a price As the Falmouth Friendly Lawn program exemplifies,
we must continue to focus on runoff to our Pond. In 2004, FOS volunteers went
door to door in the entire water shed and distributed a brochure on acceptable
lawn practices and other runoff issues. This June we co-sponsored a seminar on
“Planting with a Purpose” attended by over 60 people at the Oak Bluffs School.
Speakers Matt Pelikan, writer, naturalist and Islands Program Manager for TNC,
and Kris Henriksen, landscape designer and manager of The Nature Conservancy
(TNC), Native Plant Propagation Center, gave enthusiastic, practical and
constructive advice on how plants and practices impact the quality of water and
habitat for the whole Sengekontacket community. Matt Pelikan spoke about “The
Land in the Landscape” to better understanding the island’s ecosystem – history
of land formation, characteristics of the soil, and impacts on plant growth and
pollination. In “Native Plants – in Wild Color” Kris depicted dozens of plant
options native to the Vineyard, with the potential for ornamental use, and which
also grow readily under cultivation. FOS is also planning to update our web
site with a focus on the point sources of pollution. We have a long way to go
in educating people to change their habits and in influencing government to be
increasingly responsive to the consequences of environmentally unacceptable
development.