The busiest pond

Weeds, recreation choke Cedar shore

By Taryn Plumb
Turley Publications Correspondent

STURBRIDGE - Come to this boot-shaped pond on any warm summer day and you'll find it choked: boaters, fishermen, swimmers and jet-skiers dancing in a motorized, whirring tango.
By far, Cedar Pond is one of Sturbridge's most loved lakes, according to residents and officials.
And with good reason - it's long, lean and easily accessible, with beautiful views. It's also highly visible from the town's major roadways and abutted by several of its most well-known businesses, including the Carriage House Inn, the Oxhead Tavern and the Host Hotel.
"It's definitely the most urbanized," noted David Mitchell of the Sturbridge Conservation Commission.
However, too much love can have its ramifications.
For starters, incoming boats have introduced invasive weeds. The worst of them: Milfoil, which is generally spot-treated twice a year, explained Cedar Lake Association President Greg Abrams. The association has received money through the town in the past for that purpose, he said. "Environmentally that's our biggest problem," he said, adding that if untreated, Cedar would be "un-passable by boat."
Yet treatment can unintentionally perpetuate the weed cycle, according to Mitchell. As plants die and decay, they release nutrients, which in turn leads to late-summer algae blooms.
However, the invasive species' spread can't all be blamed on humans: The pond is the perfect habitat for milfoil, Abrams said, because it's relatively shallow and has good light penetration. "It's very easy for it to take over," he said.
Another environmental issue that significantly alters the lake's composition is the run-off from the Massachusetts Turnpike and other well-traveled roads nearby. Given the amount of salt showered over them in the winter, this leads to a higher salt content, Mitchell said. Abrams even described a beaver dam in a turnpike run-off area that eventually dumped thousands of cubic feet of salt-rich soil into the north end of the pond.
But it's not a problem with a simple solution, Mitchell said, as the salt can't be retained with a catch basin because it doesn't easily dissolve. He added that the high salt content isn't "terribly harmful," although it does render the water un-potable. A goal in the future, Abrams noted, is to get the Turnpike Authority to meet with the town and come up with solutions to minimize run-off.
These environmental problems can also be exacerbated by development, which is just about at capacity. There are at least two tiers of houses on all sides, Mitchell explained. Along the shoreline, meanwhile, there are 140 dwellings, 75 percent of which are year-round, according to Abrams.
Recreation, meanwhile, has its own pros and cons. Abrams noted that several camps on the pond have anywhere from 4 to 6 watercraft. "To me, that's an environmental impact," he said, adding that he'd like to see a limit on the number of motorized boats and other watercraft allowed per household.
Besides that, a big problem is jet skis. According to Abrams, residents are constantly calling police because they witness underage operators, late-night joyriding and reckless behavior, such as zigzagging too closely behind boats or zipping within 150 feet of shorelines and swimming areas.
"They're loud, they're fast, they're everywhere," said Abrams.
Local businesses sometimes add a stress, as well; the Oxhead, for instance, hosts outside musical acts on summer nights, which irks some residents. The association is in the process of working with shoreline establishments to build stronger relationships and seek out assistance for maintenance, Abrams explained.
All told, recreation has been a long-time characteristic of the lake, which is Sturbridge's third-largest great pond - or third smallest, depending how you look at it - comprising 183 acres and an average depth of 15 feet.
Around the turn of the century, it was a site for the Worcester County Fair; today, it lures people for swimming, boating and fishing, and is also home to an active waterskiing club. It also hosts a good amount of winter recreation, most notably ice fishing.
In the summer, meanwhile, fishermen will find the pond rife with black crappie fish, largemouth bass, pickerel, pumpkinseed and bluegill, or what Mitchell called "the perfect fish for a little kid with a bob and a worm."
But besides the fish, there's not much in the way of wildlife habitat. "It's all developed," Mitchell explained, "from top to bottom."