Fish Ladder Tour in the Watershed

VISITING FISH LADDERS

By Kirstie Jones

To see a map of the dams and fish ladders we toured click on this link.

Having just started interning at the NSRWA this past week, I was lucky enough to be able to accompany NSRWA staff as they met with fisheries biologists at several fish ladders in the area this past Tuesday. On this blustery but sunny fall morning we visited sites at Herring Brook in Pembroke, Veteran’s Park next to 139 in Marshfield, Chandler’s Pond, and two at the First Herring Brook Scituate Water Treatment Plant.

First Photo - New fish ladder Glover Mill Pond Dam on the Herring Brook, Pembroke

At our first site we met up with biologists from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game to examine a fish ladder that had been recently constructed in conjunction with a new dam in Herring Brook. Unlike the makeshift wood ladder that had originally been in place next to the old dam, this new Alaskan Steeppass ladder has much greater potential to aid fish passage during the herring spring migration. The dam, which creates a pond that serves a cranberry bog upstream, needed partial repairs and the fish ladder was completely rebuilt during the repair process. Prior to this project the dam was completely impassable for migrating fish and volunteers helped physically net the fish and transport them to trucks where they were driven upstream.

Second Photo: Sara Grady and Kirstie Jones from the NSRWA, Brad Chase, Ed Clarke and Louis from Division of Marine Fisheries, Phil Costello Contractor at the newly installed fish ladder and repaired dam at the Gorham Mill Pond in Pembroke on the Herring Brook.

As we saw on this trip, fish ladders are essential for giving fish a migratory route over most dams. There is resistance to removing dams, which would be an easier and environmentally-preferable solution, due to aesthetic, economic, and historical reasons. At the second site we visited, Veteran’s Memorial Park Dam on the South River, we learned that during the wedding season, (May - July), wooden boards in the dam are put in to raise the level of the pond for aesthetic purposes. This causes all the river’s flow to be directed down the fish ladder, making it impossible for fish to pass. The NSRWA, the Marshfield Conservation Agent, and the state fisheries biologists discussed recommendations for the park keepers to remove the boards for a certain period of time during the spring to allow the fish to pass and to stop flows out of a secondary pipe that exits the pond to avoid distracting the fish from heading for the ladder.

Third Photo: South River Veteran's park fish ladder and dam

At our next site upstream of the Veteran’s Park dam on the South River we visited the Chandler’s Pond Dam. No fish ladder currently exists, but during this meeting the possibility was discussed of constructing a new fish ladder in conjunction with a new bridge that is being planned on the site. The state biologists pointed out that from an engineering standpoint it would not be too difficult to incorporate these two projects so hopefully a new bridge for humans and a new ladder for fish will be the result of this project.

Fourth Photo: Dam at Chandler pond - not a likely candidate for fish passage!

Fifth Photo: Spillway at Chandler Pond - Potential site for fish ladder

Our final stop was in my hometown of Scituate on the First Herring Brook which is part of the town’s water supply. During our visit to the water treatment plant and the Old Oaken Pond Dam I learned a lot about how town water is managed and how this can affect fish. Because the water levels have to be kept at a certain height in the reservoir, this often prevents the fish ladder from functioning at the levels it needs for the fish to migrate. However, with the cooperation of the Scituate Water Department it looks as if previous problems have been resolved and this spring the dam and ladder will be managed so as to let fish pass. During the summer we still need to work on conserving or finding new water to have enough water in the late summer and fall for the fish to migrate back out of the system.

Sixth Photo: First Herring Brook Old Oaken Bucket fish ladder and spillway
At the second Scituate fish ladder that we visited there is a lot more work to be done. This old ladder that accompanies the dam at Scituate’s larger reservoir on the First Herring Brook has some structural problems such as steep steps as well as debris blockage. Plans were made for local water department employees to work with state fisheries representatives to clear this debris to see if it is possible to return the ladder to some functioning capacity.

Seventh Photo: Reservoir First Herring Brook fish ladder

After trips to all these sites, I am far more aware of the many issues that surround dams and fish migration. I believe that many people, myself included, pass the man made ponds and reservoirs in this area and simply think of how beautiful they look, but we must also be aware of the repercussions our dams have on the fish that have been using these rivers and streams long before we were around to alter them for our convenience.

"What is a Watershed Association?" (Interning)

As an intern at NSRWA, I have been asked this question a lot in the last couple months. Trying to explain what I do is not always easy, seeing as I have a lot of different things on the agenda in a given day. I usually just say "Oh, its about the environment." or "We do stuff with rivers and water." You, lucky readers, get to know what it actually means. So here we go;

In the mornings, I go to Scituate and get to spend a lovely bit of time doing stream observations. This involved going to two stream locations and reading gauges, taking some other measurements (temperature and dissolved oxygen) and generally commenting on the habitat I see. "Is there water flowing?", "Is there vegetation?" and the like. I have been startled by a large bird flying out from under the bridge at Old Oaken Bucket and have found a poor fish thrashing about on the rocks mid-stream trying to find water again, to name a few of the not-so-common events.

The observations I do will help with the First Herring Brook Restoration Project, which is aimed at allowing Herring to return to these areas in which they once thrived through efforts to restore the habitat. This involves working with the Scituate Water Department and trying to restore consistent, more natural flows in the streams controlled by the water system. (http://www.nsrwa.org/Page.109.html)

I also get to do Greenscapes activities, which are really fun! I was able to go into 5th grade classrooms at the start of the summer with the Water All Around program (http://www.nsrwa.org/Page.137.html) and teach kids about pollution in watersheds-where it comes from, how it gets into the water, and what we can do to help prevent it. The kids were very cute and had a lot to contribute. The parent volunteers also learned a lot from the different stations we set up and the kids got to go on field trips as part of the program.

Now that its the summer, I have been going to farmers markets all around the South Shore promoting Greenscapes (http://www.greenscapes.org/). This past weekend I went to the Pembroke Farmer's Market where I got to sip on some homemade iced tea and see a belly dancer perform while handing out information on how to save water and keep a healthy, beautiful lawn over the summer! I met some interesting people and got to share information on native plants, lawn mowing tips, and more ways to help your lawn survive.

Those times when I'm in the office, I am working on data that relate to water conservation. I work on figuring out where all the water a town pumps is going, who is using it, and when people use the most water. The watering ban put into effect this summer in Scituate is part of my focus, and I am doing analyses to see if it has had an impact on reducing the towns water use. Number crunching is never a thrilling task, but knowing that the information I am working with will be used to inform future policy is really exciting.

So, there you have it! A little bit of ecology, a little bit of outreach, some statistics, some teaching, and a whole lot of Watershed fun- that is what it means to intern at the Watershed Association.

Shellfish, Herring and Clean Up Day Oh MY!

To say we have been busy would be an understatement! In face instead of writing this blog entry I should be doing some accounting for the NSRWA but alas I don't like do accounting. SO let me catch you blog readers up on the latest goings on around here....

South River Shellfish Beds Opened for the First time in 20 Years!

April 15th 2011 the Mass Division of Marine Fisheries officially declared the South River's water quality clean enough to shellfish in - which means it is clean enough to eat! The last time these shellfish beds were open to the public was 20 years ago. It has taken two decades of work to clean the river up to reach this milestone. Years of advocating for sewers, upgraded septic systems, better stormwater management have finally paid off. We aren't finished yet - they shellfish beds are open until May 30th - we want them open for the whole season. And only a section of the river nearest the mouth has been opened. The remaining pollution is largely stormwater but also some residual septic system problems in the Kent Park area of Marshfield. We won't stop until it is clean and open year round. To find out more about the South River shellfish beds that have been recently opened visit our website.

Herring Brigade on the Herring River in Pembroke

We called upon our volunteers to help the herring and they responded in force! Approximately 35 volunteers have now moved over 10,000 herring past a broken fish ladder on the Herring Brook in Pembroke. The fish ladder broke originally in 2006 when a downstream dam blew out in heavy rains. The downstream dam was not rebuilt as it was not needed any longer and would have been quite expensive - like $500,000 to rebuild. The Herring Brook reformed itself where that pond was but it left the fish ladder upstream too far above the elevation of the new water level. The Division of Marine Fisheries made a temporary repair to the ladder which lasted until two years ago when more heavy rains destroyed the temporary fish ladder. Meanwhile from 2006 on the state was searching for the $250,000 it will need to fix not only the fish ladder but repair the dam that the fish ladder will sit on. Thankfully there was funding from habitat mitigation for damages due to the installation of the Hub gasline in Boston Harbor. We are not sure if we are happy or sad about that. Anyway it seems like a pretty unsustainable way to run the fishery. The volunteers helped this year class of fish to be able to spawn this year. Here is a video of this amazing feat of nature (and the helpful hands of our volunteers).

Clean Up Day This Saturday - April 30th 10 am - 12 noon

This is our 24th year hosting this annual rite of spring - cleanning up the areas around the rivers before the boating season is really underway. We need your help - and your pick up truck if you got one! Please visit our website and pick a station closest to your home. We will supply you with bags and take away the trash. You then can join us for a great cookout - sponsored by Whole Foods - at the Driftway park in Scituate. You also will have one last chance to buy a kayak raffle ticket before we draw the winner!