To our Chilmark Pond Foundation Community,
We are pleased to provide you with our first annual Ecosystem Monitoring Report to increase our understanding of the causes of degradation to the pond’s ecosystem and allow us to begin to work on solutions. With huge thanks to the Great Pond Foundation for conducting the scientific analysis and writing this report—our partnership is vital.
The report details Chilmark Pond’s impairment and, combined with the
recent isotope study, we know that the main culprits to the pond’s health are rising temperatures (that we cannot control) and excess nitrogen from septic systems and fertilizer (that we can control). This November, we began locating the sources of nutrient pollution in the groundwater. Next year, we will further this work by pinpointing the largest nitrogen hotspots in the watershed in order to address the pollution at its source, with targeted solutions. We are grateful to our partners at the Chilmark Pond Association for funding this critical groundwater study.
Over the past two summers, we helped launch, and provided support to, the weekly testing of Cyanobacteria through MV CYANO. As you know from the state of the pond this summer, we were the beneficiaries of real-time information regarding dangerous blooms in Chilmark Pond.
We continue to navigate the many steps to obtain our dredge permit to improve the exchange of water when the pond is opened to the ocean, and we are inching closer to that approval. As we have mentioned before, the scientific experts view dredging as the best place to begin pond health remediation efforts. In addition to working on the permit we are narrowing in on the specifics of dredge operation itself.
We hope you will join us with your support of our efforts to restore Chilmark Pond’s health, building a legacy for our community. You can find more information about our work and how to donate in this brochure as well as on our website.
Should you have any specific questions about gifting, please contact Douglas Sacks at:
We all love Chilmark Pond. Let’s work together to ensure its vitality.
With best wishes for the holiday season,
Allan Holt, President
Douglas Sacks, Treasurer
Ellen Jewett, Clerk
Amy Salzman, Ex Officio