Thank you, Shelter Island. This summer we are again seeing a startling increase in water clarity in response to regrowth after our “muck to mulch” harvesting program removed over a ton of lily pad stems and leaves and algae mats.

With your continuing generous support, we will be able to do a second harvest at the beginning of next month, keeping everyone safe and the pond healthy. We are testing and monitor changes for an eighth year and we will keep you posted here (our blog) and here (the data).

Fresh Pond is not just a window into the aquifer. It is the the aquifer, the largest exposed portion of Shelter Island’s groundwater, the only source of drinking water on Shelter Island. Each year, 100 million gallons of fresh water flow through fresh pond and into our creeks, estuaries and bays.

This fall we will begin to clean the pond from the bottom up. Deep lakes turn-over every Spring and Fall as the season change, and problems can re-surface.  This year we were awared a $260,000 New York State grant and a $32,500 contribution from the town’s Water Quality Improvement program. We are delighted that your generous support all year and at the Ram’s Head Inn in June completed our matching community commitment of $32,500. Thank you!

In September, with the town, we will install equipment and fine tune a solution that will be as effective as 25 advanced septic systems – and more so in some ways. It will take a few more years of work, but we can make a permanent change for our community, our kids, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, for generations to come. 

Our citizen science efforts, now in an eighth year, are supported by the NYS Federation of Lake Associations and the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Fresh Pond can be a beacon of hope – showing us what Shelter Islanders can do if our communities pull together.

We can do it, with your generous help and support…