Weed Update to the LMPA Membership

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Dear LMPA Members,

We hope you are enjoy­ing your sum­mer on the lake. We had great par­tic­i­pa­tion in our first “Light up the Night” event on the 3rd of July as well as the annu­al Boat Parade. Con­grat­u­la­tions to the Sweeney’s for win­ning the best boat for the sec­ond year in a row. This could be the start of a dynasty!

If you have spent any­time in the north basin you sure­ly have noticed the exten­sive weed growth, par­tic­u­lar­ly the large leaf pond weed which is grow­ing to the sur­face. As we dis­cussed at the LMPA Annu­al Meet­ing, the weed prob­lem was some­what expect­ed giv­en our inabil­i­ty to pro­ceed with the extend­ed draw­down of the lake last win­ter. We want to remind every­one that the mon­i­tor­ing and man­age­ment of weeds in Lake Maspenock are under the juris­dic­tion of the Town of Hop­kin­ton, specif­i­cal­ly the Depart­ment of Pub­lic Works (DPW) who also man­age our dam. For sev­er­al years, the DPW has been advised on weed sta­tus by a cit­i­zens advi­so­ry com­mit­tee in which sev­er­al lake res­i­dents and LMPA members/officers par­tic­i­pate. The advi­so­ry group cre­at­ed an oper­at­ing plan approved by the Town of Hop­kin­ton, for weed mon­i­tor­ing and man­age­ment. A copy of this can be found on the LMPA Web­site (go to the Town Advi­so­ry Tab on the home page).

The DPW, Town Advi­so­ry Com­mit­tee and LMPA con­tin­ue to work togeth­er to ensure we can resume the extend­ed draw­downs. As we have pre­vi­ous­ly com­mu­ni­cat­ed, there is one home­own­er on the lake that has expressed con­cern about impact to their water sup­ply which pro­hibits us from the doing the deep­er draw­down per the agree­ment with the Con­ser­va­tion Com­mis­sion. We are work­ing to resolve this issue.

Although the oper­at­ing plan includes sev­er­al options for weed man­age­ment, the extend­ed draw­down is the pre­ferred method. Due to tim­ing, oth­er options will not be pur­sued for treat­ment this summer.

Many of you have asked who you can con­tact at the Town of Hop­kin­ton to express your con­cerns or pref­er­ence for a spe­cif­ic treat­ment approach for the weeds. The best con­tacts are:

  • John West­er­ling, Direc­tor of Hop­kin­ton Depart­ment of Pub­lic Works Email: jwesterling@hopkintonma.gov
  • Nor­man Khu­ma­lo, Town Man­ag­er
    Email: nkhumalo@hopkintonma.gov
  • Lake Maspenock Weed Man­age­ment & Con­trol Advi­so­ry Group
    Email: maspenockchair@hopkintonma.gov

For the remain­der of the sea­son, please be care­ful boat­ing in the north basin as we have had reports of issues with clogged water intakes and pro­pellers. If you have a boat with a pro­peller we sug­gest putting your engine in reverse reg­u­lar­ly which many times will clear any weeds that may be wrapped around the prop. Clean and clear your water intakes reg­u­lar­ly after boat­ing through the weeds. Please also be care­ful swim­ming in the areas affect­ed by the weeds such that you do not risk entanglement.

This is a frus­trat­ing sit­u­a­tion for all of us who enjoy our lake and we are work­ing dili­gent­ly to be in an improved sit­u­a­tion for the next sum­mer season.

Regards,

The Offi­cers and Board Mem­bers of the Lake Maspenock Preser­va­tion Association