Fresh Pond is not only 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.

Last year we witnessed a small miracle.  We harvested thousands of pounds of decaying lily pad leaves and stems from the pond, turning them into mulch for gardening.  This let light in… and as we watched the lily pads regrow, we measured a startling increase in clarity which lasted into September.  We had not seen the pond that clear in summer since we were kids.  We are scheduling another muck-to-mulch harvest for early July 2025 and will keep you posted!

Deep northern lakes turn-over every Spring and Fall as the season change, bringing problems back to the surface.  We’ve now been given a $260,000 grant from New York State and we are grateful for another $32,500 contribution from the town, and with your help we will begin to clean up the pond from the bottom up. 

This fall we’ll install equipment 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 – showing us what Shelter Islanders can do if our communities pull together.

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