Volunteers removed 1,620 pounds of water chestnut from the pond last fall but the plant continues to spread. Photo by the Westerly Sun
By EMILY DUPUIS
Sun Staff Writer
WESTERLY – It may appear unassuming, floating like a green lace veil on the pond surface. But the water chestnut in Chapman Pond needs to go.
The Westerly Land Trust and Rhode Island Natural History Survey are planning a “big pull” of the invasive aquatic plants on Saturday.
Volunteers are invited to bring a canoe, kayak or other small boat and lend a hand between 9 a.m. and noon. (Boat is not needed to help)
“It makes people feel empowered that they can make a difference,” Kelly Presley, executive director of the Westerly Land Trust, said of the hands-on project. “It’s a great opportunity to educate people, too.”
Rhode Island Natural History Survey staff first spotted water chestnut in the pond last July. In September, volunteers removed 1,620 pounds.
This year, organizers are getting an earlier start in their effort to eradicate the water chestnut.
“We suspect we’ll get a lot more now because at that point [last year], it had already started dying off,” Presley said.
Water chestnut floats in dense beds on the surface of the water, anchored by long, sturdy roots, and spreads quickly.
Not only do these beds interfere with boating and tangle with fishing gear, they also block sunlight from reaching the pond bottom. Vegetation there dies and decays, dissolved oxygen levels drop, and fish die or are driven away.
“So if it were to take over a pond, it would really destroy the ecology of the pond,” Presley said of the plants.
There is also speculation that water chestnut beds are potentially good breeding habitats for mosquito species that have been known to carry diseases like West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis, she said.
Volunteers will set out from the Department of Environmental Management boat launch, located near the town’s transfer station off Route 91.
Organizers recommend they bring buckets or laundry baskets to collect the plants, which will be buried on land to prevent birds from spreading the seeds. One acre of water chestnut can produce enough seeds to cover 100 acres the following year.
Presley said the land trust works regularly with the Rhode Island Natural History Survey to encourage native plants and animals to thrive, she said.
For more information, contact invasive species projects volunteer coordinator Gina Fuller at 401-787-3321.