On a hot and sunny July 13 afternoon, Lisa Wheeler of the Plumb Memorial Library, local professor and ecologist Dr. Mindy Labranche and Michelle Kirby of the Snow’s Pond Association brought over two dozen children to the Lawrence Way shore of Snow’s Pond to teach them about the importance of lakes, ponds and freshwater life.
It did not take long for the 21 young explorers ages five to 12 to find tinier pond life than any of them would have expected as they dipped their nets in the mucky water’s edge.
Zak, 11, a student at Rochester Memorial School, was one of the first to net a baby dragonfly, then later a slightly bigger “dragonfly nymph,” as Dr. Labranche called them, explaining they live in that state for about a year before becoming adults.
Later, Zak was spotted climbing the concrete piling supporting the nearby dock, net in hand, to find more of the tiny creatures populating the pond. Asked what he liked most about exploring the pond this way, he said, “It’s just the excitement of doing it.”
By the end of the outdoor visit, all the students had enjoyed the experience. They found tiny tadpoles and small pickerel and catfish, and they netted crane fly larvae and other small bugs. They even learned about the different types of lily pads. Some have a slimy coating on their undersides, Dr. Labranche said. That is so fish and frogs and other lizards will not eat those kinds of pads.
Michelle Kirby, president of the Snow’s Pond Association, said as the workshop began that the program’s goal is to teach young people how to “protect and preserve our beautiful open spaces.”
Snow’s Pond, she pointed out, has the highest water level of all ponds in Rochester. It is a 12,000-year-old “kettle pond” created by glacial activity that long ago.
As the workshop ended, Dr. Labranche noted her goal was simply “to find bugs and get the younger generation familiar with life in the pond.” She happily noted that most of the creatures on her to-find list were found.
Labranche hinted at the deeper meaning of the exercise when she noted that finding these pond creatures are part of a water-quality bioassessment. The organisms sensitive to water pollution will not be found where pollutants are high, she explained. Some other organisms tolerate pollution somewhat, and others will totally survive. It’s very telling about the current state of Snow’s Pond that the dragonfly nymph and crane fly larvae are among the moderately tolerant category.
The library program’s goals are not unlike the mission of the Snow’s Pond Association (SPA) itself, Kirby later said. The association was formed in 2018 by abutters concerned about the excessive aquatic weed growth and diminishing water quality of the pond.
“It is a group committed to the preservation and protection of Snow’s Pond and its surroundings,” she said. “We want to ensure that this natural resource will be around for generations to come.”
Having noted in a previous Wanderer story that the association includes 14 of the 16 property owners on the pond, Kirby notes that the association has 13 voting members and over 100 people supporting the Friends of Snow’s Pond. She followed up in an email with a historical sketch of recent work at Snow’s Pond.
“In 2019 the SPA hired a certified lake manager to identify and map the aquatic plants in the pond, perform a bathymetric survey to create a depth map and analyze water quality and nutrients in the pond, she said. This study gave the association a solid baseline of the health of Snow’s Pond,” Kirby wrote, adding that in 2020, the SPA became the first Massachusetts waterbody to join the University of Rhode Island (URI) Watershed Watch, a volunteer monitoring program that runs from May to October.
SPA members monitor weekly and once a month bring water samples to URI’s laboratory for analysis. Data collected by volunteers are posted on URI’s Watershed Watch website, according to Kirby. “The data provides us with a better understanding of the pond’s ecosystem and will help us decide the correct route when implementing a management plan,” she said.
The SPA is currently working on establishing non-profit (501c3) status, which is often a prerequisite to obtaining funding for lake management. Meanwhile, it continues its work to increase awareness and education of the importance of pond health and a better understanding of the impacts that human development has on watersheds around town, she said.
The threat from aquatic invasive species and nutrient overload extends beyond Rochester waterbodies all over the country, Kirby said. “In order to preserve and protect our water bodies and water resources, we need to be proactive. SPA is currently the only pond association in Rochester and aims to serve as an example of best practices and pond stewardship.”
By Michael J. DeCicco