Pond Restoration Update

March 2019

V. Brannen

Goal set May 2018 – to restore the pond to be a beautiful, sustainable feature of the CMH campus that is an accessible educational resource for children.

The following 4 issues have been addressed:

More water / determine leaks / collect water level data –

Pond levels continue to rise and lower with rain events & dry spells. If a leak is present, we have determined that rebuilding the pond is not worth the cost, since our above goals are met with the pond’s recent improvements and condition as is.

Boardwalk - in good shape.

New fence - not needed. With the removal of overgrowth we found the existing fence to be in good shape. A few broken split rails have been replaced.

Appropriate and beautiful landscaping that is easy to maintain -

All growth on backside of dam and interior of pond has been removed. A few native trees were left to provide shade habitat on south side of pond. Bare soil was seeded and a bi-weekly cutting schedule has been established. Contracted with Aqua Doc to provide 12 herbicide applications during the growing season to treat aquatic invasives (Floating Heart , Algae, Yellow Swamp Iris).

Other notes…

Know that our pond is filled with life for students to study – frogs, toads, turtles, fish, macro-invertebrates, etc., despite changing water levels.

Access has greatly increased with removal of large plants/trees/invasives. A floating dock was discussed last year, but the increased access makes this idea not a priority.

Students added habitat to east side of pond interior (logs) that will provide shelter to pond life. More large logs can be stacked in this area if possible. This will also provide sunning areas for turtles, frogs, etc., making them more visible to students.

This spring several small patches of pollinator plants (Milkweed, Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, etc.) will be added to increase beauty and diversity. This will add color and attract butterflies, birds, etc.

March 2018 after heavy rain event