Mystic River Water Chestnut Pull August 28
An operator from Aquatic Control Technology performs mechanical harvesting of the European water chestnut on the Mystic River in Medford recently. Photo courtesy Mystic River Watershed Association.
Citizens and community organizations in Medford and Somerville will continue their summer-long effort to remove the European water chestnut plant from the Mystic River with a hand-pulling event on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Spearheaded by Groundwork Somerville, a local environmental non-profit, community volunteers and AmeriCorps and Green Team members earlier this summer removed an estimated 20 tons of the invasive water chestnut plants from the river by hand-pulling them from watercraft.
Last week, a team from Aquatic Control Technology, Inc. began 10 days of mechanical cutting/harvesting of approximately 8 acres of water chestnuts in the Mystic in Medford and Somerville. ACT was hired through a grant obtained this year by Groundwork Somerville through the Massachusetts Environmental Trust.
The hand-pulling event on Aug. 28 will focus on removal of the water chestnut plants near the shoreline and in other waters that were too shallow to accommodate the harvesting machines. Using canoes, kayaks, and small boats, volunteers will pull the plants out of the water by hand and then deposit them at a designated shore site. (The pulled plants will be composted at a nearby landscaping facility.)
The hand-pulling event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., launching from the old DCR boat ramp adjacent to 75 South Street in Medford. Volunteers should meet at 8:30 a.m.
Participants are invited to bring their own canoe or kayak, if they have one. Otherwise, a limited number of canoes will be available, thanks to the generous cooperation of the Boys and Girls Club of Middlesex County.
Boaters are required to use life preservers/personal flotation devices.
Riverbank helpers also are needed to take the plants out of the boats.
Volunteers who plan to attend should RSVP by email to brad@groundworksomerville.org or by phone at (617) 455-1127. If you will need a canoe, indicate that in your RSVP.
Immediately following the hand-pulling event, lunch and refreshments will be available for volunteers at the put-in site.
This event is sponsored by Groundwork Somerville, with support from the Mystic River Watershed Association, the Friends of the Mystic River, the Riverside, Mystic Wellington, and Winter Hill Yachts Clubs, and the Medford Boat Club.
Notice regarding herbicidal treatment on Mystic River August 30
Local Yacht Clubs to Close to Allow Spraying of Overgrown Aquatic Plants
On Monday, August 30, Groundwork Somerville will oversee the application of aquatic herbicide to selected patches of water lilies that have become overgrown on the Lower Mystic River around the Riverside Yacht Club and the Mystic Wellington Yacht Club in Medford, and the Winter Hill Yacht Club in Somerville. The controlled spraying will be conducted by Aquatic Control Technologies, which specializes in the removal and management of aquatic plant species.
In order for the treatment to be effective, there must be little to no water-surface disturbance near the application sites, thereby allowing ample time for the herbicide to be absorbed into the plant tissue and then into the roots of the water lilies.
In full support of the project goals, the three area yacht clubs have agreed to remain closed on August 30. The DCR public boat launch adjacent to the Mystic Wellington Yacht Club will also remain closed on that day.
Groundwork Somerville is urging all recreational boaters to refrain from any boating activity on the Lower Mystic River on August 30th. If this is not possible, boaters should maintain a “no-wake†speed limit near the three yacht clubs. Boaters’ cooperation will be crucial to the success of the herbicidal treatment.
A rain date of Tuesday, August 31, has been set for the application.
The herbicidal treatment is part of Groundwork Somerville’s Mystic Invasives Removal Project, a multi-year effort to eradicate invasive water chestnut plants for the Lower Mystic River, and to address overgrowth of the native water lily. Funded largely through a Massachusetts Environmental Trust grant, the project is made possible through an ongoing collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association, the Friends of the Mystic River, the Riveside, Mystic Wellington, and Winter Hill Yachts Clubs, and the Medford Boat Club, as well as countless community volunteers.
All aspects of the herbicidal treatment have been approved by the City of Medford and the City of Somerville, as well as state authorities. For more information, please contact Brad Arndt, Mystic River Projects Manager, at (617) 455-1127 or brad@groundworksomerville.org.
– Information from Groundwork Somerville