State of the great ponds

By Taryn Plumb
Turley Publications Correspondent

STURBRIDGE - Ultimately, the goal is to get the town's five great ponds to work as one engine - collaborating, planning, advocating.
Because in the end, the water bodies are essential to the fabric of the community - and an asset, as well.
"There are many towns that have lakes," noted David Mitchell of the Sturbridge Conservation Commission. "Ours seem to be interwoven into our daily lives due to their visibility and use."
To support the water bodies, selectmen established the Sturbridge Lakes Advisory Committee last December. The group's charge has been to inventory the current state of the town's great ponds, which include Big Alum, Cedar, Leadmine, South and Walker. Other goals were to identify collaborations throughout town and suggest options for improving the ponds. On Oct. 20, the committee will represent its findings to selectmen.
All told, the group had a dozen active participants, including at least one from every lake association, as well as representatives from the board of selectmen, conservation commission and Army Corps of Engineers.
The group met twice weekly for several months, brainstorming ideas and developing recommendations. "It was the first time we got all five lakes together in the same room," said Mitchell. "They realized they had unity and strength."
The principal conclusion of the committee was that there should be a permanent standing executive council of lake associations. Other suggestions are to improve public access to each pond, establish parking limits and, in some cases, signage; observe more strict weed control; aggressively pursue grants; develop uniform boating regulations; increase awareness of the lakes as a community resource; and prepare educational packages focused on watershed and weed management.
Similarly, the town could benefit from a Sturbridge lakes management plan, which would be similar to a master plan in that it would suggest firm goals for upkeep, policing, weed management and tourism. The latter, in the form of eco-tourism, is a high priority: The lakes should work with local businesses to promote lake use and also establish connecting trails. "That needs to be developed and encouraged," said Mitchell.
To implement these various recommendations, the executive council should be instated as soon as possible, Mitchell said. Various subcommittees of that could then begin to tackle suggestions, one by one. "We made a lot of recommendations," said Mitchell, "but you can't try to implement them all at once."
All told, the state of the lakes is more pertinent now than ever, he said, with some experiencing overuse and others transforming from a demographic of summer cottages to full-time homes. There's more pressure on them now, and they have to be dealt with more intensely, he said.
At the same time, residents and officials should realize that there is an economic value to the lakes: They're a great benefit to the town and a positive enhancement.
However, "What is a resource also becomes a responsibility," said Mitchell.