Sand Dam Reservoir Association Newsletter

www.sanddamreservoir.com

Officers’ Updates

President- Judy Colaluca

This is an exciting, crazy, reflective, and planning time of the year for all of us around Smith and Sayles Reservoir. What a beautiful community we have to reside in — we are so fortunate.  As we move forward, we have to reflect on the past and keep upgrading SDRA’s  goals to meet the needs as they arise to protect, improve, and preserve OUR lake.

OUR Suction Harvester – If you have not seen this amazing, useful, and gentle piece of equipment in action, just wait ‘til the spring of 2017! Teams will be set up in order to maximize the capability of the harvester. Working on the harvester is hard work- but extremely appreciated as, once the weeds are sucked up- they are gone- straight to a compost pile!!

OUR Boat Inspection Team – They are up and on the job early in the morning and after dark as needed. If not for their determination, two new weed species would have been introduced into our lake this past summer.

OUR Clean Up Days- All ages of the family were out cleaning up litter at the Spillway and Dam. This year we had 8 volunteers from our like-minded partner, Northwest Rhode Island Supporters of Open Spaces (NRISOS) joining us- wonderful! 

OUR goal is always to be aware of what is developing around our lake. For example, the Hopkins Property development proposal on New Road (i.e. the gravel bank) is presently suspended, and, when more information is available, it will be forwarded to you. Also, individual landowners need to be following best practises concerning composting and fertilizing their lawns so as not to be fostering the growth of the weeds. What we do as individuals impacts all!

Want more information concerning goals, activities???

Just contact any member of the Board.

I appreciate each and every one of you SDRA members—-

Happy holidays, Judy

Treasurer—  Carolyn Fortuna

Thanks to those of you who paid your dues at the 2016 SDRA Annual Meeting or at Sand Dam Day. We also have had a number of individuals who have paid since those events, bringing us to about 95% of our consistent membership numbers over the last three years. Your dues have helped us to begin the process of replenishing our treasury after the summer 2016 purchase of the Suction Harvester.

Moreover, with the convening of a newly formed Membership Committee consisting of Marissa Danville, Judy Colaluca, and me, we were able to identify about a dozen families on the lake who might like to become members of the Association. As a result, we have initiated a letter writing campaign to let these lake neighbors know about SDRA and the events we undertake on behalf of our mission to protect and nurture the lake environment. Our Association is involved with many activities of which non-members might not be aware. We’ll keep you posted how it goes. Also, if you know neighbors who might like to become a member of SDRA, please reach out to them. It is so important to be able to put a friendly face alongside an invitation.

May the new year bring you and your lake family great joy and solace. —- Carolyn

Board of Directors’ Reports

Having come from Oakland Beach, I was familiar with DEM being largely involved in anything to do with the bay and coves. I thought they would also be responsible for the lakes in Rhode Island. Oh, how I was mistaken. I never realized the management of the lake falls upon the residents. These past few years as a board member have made me aware of just what it takes to properly manage the lake, whether it’s through meetings, fundraisers, or good old fashioned manual labor. This isn’t a normal 9 to 5 job; it’s so much more because this is our home. We live on and around this lake, and we are all working tirelessly to preserve a healthy lake for our families and future generations. It takes a lot of time and effort and I’m proud to be a part of the SDRA team. —

Happy holidays to you and yours,

Marissa Danville

As many of you have heard by now, our Association was able to purchase our own weed harvester this past summer. This was the result of the hard work of many members, along with several fundraising events. This amazing piece of equipment allows us to safely remove invasive weeds from our lake without chemical means. However, this can only be effective with repetitive usage, fueled by hours of volunteer work. In the upcoming summer season, please consider donating some time so we can maximize the harvester’s potential by creating teams of volunteers to help eradicate this problem. The training only takes about an hour, and you will work alongside experienced friends and neighbors. Have a great winter, and I hope to see many of you when training resumes in the spring.

Best regards,

Eric Lariviere

Committee Reports

Grant Writing

We are so lucky to have received another opportunity to submit a State Legislative grant from Senator Fogarty’s office for the 2016-2017 year. I wrote the narrative, which helps to support our dam and water level monitoring and adjusting, during the month of November. This $500 credit to our treasury offers us a cushion as we turn to the new year.

— Carolyn Fortuna

Fund Drive

The holidays are upon us, and I’m sure we’re all thinking to ourselves, “What am I going to get that hard-to-buy-for person?” I’ve got it! How about a donation in their name? This year we are holding a fund drive beginning January 1, 2017 to help support the use of the Suction Harvester purchased over the summer. Here’s some of the fundraiser information.

SDRA has a New Suction Harvester!

And we need everyone to pitch in with help to support its use…

Bronze Level Contributions: $50 and under.

Silver Level Contributions: $51-$100

Gold Level Contributions: $101 +

Please make any payments to:

Sand Dam Reservoir Association

PO Box 284

Chepachet, RI 02814

Donations may also be made online through our GoFundMe site: https//www.gofundme.com/sanddamri

Any and all help is appreciated to ensure the best possible care is taken to preserve the lake for years to come. The purchase of the suction harvester was just the beginning. With everyone’s help, we can move towards eradicating Milfoil and any other invasive species that might try to enter our waters. Thank you everyone for all your help.

If you have any questions at all, please let me know at mjdanville@gmail.com.

— Marissa Danville

Lake Management Plan

SDRA’s annual drawdown is well under way. Daily water level measurements are taken during the drawdown, and weekly oxygen levels are also taken. Our Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management issued permit allows our Association to drawdown 54 inches below normal lake level at a rate not to exceed two inches per day.

As you can see from the graph below, the lake is nearly four feet low, leaving about a foot left to draw down. Barring a large precipitation event, the lake level should be at our permitted maximum drawdown depth near mid-December. Once the lake is at its lowest level, think dry, sub-freezing weather! Greater milfoil mortality through a drawdown will result in reduced reliance on the Association’s new weed suction harvester.

In depth drawdown information is available at https://sites.google.com/site/sdradrawdown/

—- Art Searle

Save the Lakes –  

Save The Lakes (STL) continues to work with lake associations to help in whatever area there is a need.  Much work is being done on the state level to inform state legislators of the needs of freshwater lakes, streams. and ponds. There are numerous activities being proposed for 2017.

For example, Save the Lakes hosts an annual information day at the Bass Pro Shop, is a presenter at the Land and Water Summit in March at URI alongside DEM, holds an informational forum with the opportunity for lake associations and individuals to talk directly with DEM Director Coit, and sponsors fishing tournaments and a poster contest for school children. This is a great way to meet folks from around the state. Join STL.

— Judy Colaluca

Website

When was the last time you visited our Sand Dam Reservoir Association website? Maybe it was to learn the history of the Association. Or perhaps you wanted to attend one of the Boat Ramp Inspections and looked at the 2016 calendar of tournaments. If you needed a resource like the Association’s by-laws or the names of this year’s Board, you clicked on the Our Association page. Or you follow the progress of the Lake Management team through the website. You ever could have learned more about the Suction Harvester by using the website.

The SDRA website is a useful place for the Association to chronicle its work. You can also get our quarterly newsletters delivered to your email inbox, you know, if you subscribe to the website for updates. If you’d like to subscribe, go to the Welcome page, look to the right side just after “Recent Posts,” and fill in the field that allows you to Subscribe to this Blog. Voila! You’ll get updates fast and efficiently.

If you ever have a news item that you’d like us to feature in a newsletter or special blog post, please feel free to send along an idea to c4tuna31@gmail.com. We’re always looking for contributing writers.  Have a safe holiday travel season.

— Carolyn Fortuna

Final Notes from our SDRA President

In closing, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Holiday Season!!  And to sincerely say “Thank you” to each SDRA Board member, past and present, whom I have had the honor of working to benefit Smith and Sayles Reservoir community. To my neighbors on our lake, I wish you well and look forward to seeing everyone in and around our lake. Get involved- Many Hands make light work!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Best to ALL,

Judy

Hello interested community members,

The variance hearing re: a parcel of land being considered for development on Smith & Sayles Reservoir has been postponed from Monday, June 6, 2016 to Monday, July 11.

Please pass along this information to anyone who does not subscribe to this blog.  See you then! Thanks.

Sand Dam Reservoir Association Newsletter

www.sanddamreservoir.com

Winter Newsletter 2016:  

Looking Ahead to Spring and Summer

 

Board of Directors’ Updates

Officers

Today is a glorious morning— the lake appears to have diamonds sparkling as the waves ripple! Individually, each of us sees something different as we look at OUR lake. But, together, we are moving forward to do what is best for OUR lake.

The teamwork continues, and the membership is growing. I encourage you, if you are not involved, get involved.  There are many areas of concern, and your point of view needs to be heard. Join a committee, become active on the boat inspection team, help plan an event, do some lake research, write a grant, or build a buffer zone in front of your property to eliminate the runoff from your lawn into our lake. This year, there was not a “total” freeze on the lake to kill the milfoil. Therefore, it is more important than ever that you eliminate fertilizing as it “feeds” the weeds as you are “feeding”  your lawn. Please consider not applying nutrients! Thank you!!

Save the Date:  Wednesday, June 15, 2016 is the date for the SDRA Annual Meeting, which will take place at the Glocester Town Hall, Room 9. At the Annual Meeting this year, you will have the opportunity to share your thoughts and learn from your neighbors what is “happening” around the lake, in the lake, at the bottom of the lake, and the filling of the lake. The  2016 plans will be announced, and an election of officers will take place. Please see news under the Nominating Committee below if you’d like to become a SDRA Board member.  

As always, it is my pleasure to be a member of SDRA and work with others to accomplish its Mission!  Your neighbor,

Judy (judycolaluca@aol.com).

Secretary- Mary O’Keeffe

We look forward to spring and summer 2016 with an eye towards welcoming new members and welcoming back former members whose membership may have lapsed. If you have new neighbors, please encourage them to contact me (sdra.secretary@cox.net or 568-2657) so that I can include them on our email/mail list to receive newsletters and important announcements.

Current members are encouraged to send updates of email or USPS mailing addresses. Former members may send dues checks ($50) to SDRA, PO Box 284, Chepachet, RI 02814 to renew membership and ensure continued delivery of SDRA newsletters and announcements.

Treasurer-  Carolyn Fortuna

The first quarter of 2016 has been quite stable financially for SDRA.  Due to a membership drive, we have maintained 100% of members over the past two years.  The most important tasks we designated for 2015 continue ahead for SDRA in 2016: to increase the balance in our treasury so that we can embark on as many sustainability endeavors as possible.  We want to protect and enrich our lake environment, and that, often, comes with associated financial costs.  

As treasurer, I address our financial needs, but I also have a corresponding responsibility to seek out grant possibilities.  A grant proposal with which we have much success is a RI Community Grant.   Due to the continued generosity of Senator Fogarty’s office, SDRA was the recipient of a 2015-2016 Community Grant in the amount of $500.  The proceeds from the Community Grant are directed to the important work our Dam Master does in controlling the lake levels and guiding dam maintenance.   We are always on the lookout for grant opportunities, so please don’t hesitate to forward a grant call for proposals our way, especially if you see a good fit  for SDRA and can help to guide the grant application process.

Another tangent of the SDRA Treasurer’s position is to initiate or collaborate in fundraisers. We are so lucky to have a team of individuals who put in lots of behind-the-scenes hours toward our fundraisers.  Right now, we have two active fundraisers underway… read below to learn more!

Sincerely,

Carolyn 🙂 (c4tuna31@gmail.com)

May SDRA Fundraiser at the Purple Cat Vineyard and Winery

11 Money Hill Road

Chepachet, RI 02814

http://www.purplecatwinery.com/

Friday, May 20 from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Tickets: $20 in advance — $25 at the door

RSVP to: mjdanville@gmail.com or ashleyhopkins8@live.com or c4tuna31@gmail.com

Please join us for a wine tasting event on Friday, May 20th from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Purple Cat Vineyard and Winery on Money Hill Road in Chepachet.  If you haven’t been there yet, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Reminiscent of coffee houses of days gone by, with its multiple level seating, sofas, tall tables, and cedar post-and-beam decor, the Purple Cat Vineyard and Winery offers tastings of their wines in a relaxed setting.  And what better time is there than a late spring Friday night in May to gather with neighbors and friends and welcome the high season?

While there will be much more information to follow, we are planning, in addition to the wine tasting, a selection of complimentary appetizers, a 50/50 raffle, and a Silent Auction. Proceeds will help in our goals to reduce invasive milfoil in Smith & Sayles Reservoir.  If you’d like to participate in planning this fundraiser, we would appreciate donations to the Silent Auction and Appetizer tables, assisting in ticket sales, spreading the word through your friends and family network, and/ or offering a helping hand at the end of the night on the cleaning committee.  

Please let us know if you’re able to be part of this fun community-building event.

GoFundMe.com — Marissa and Dennis Danville

To date we have raised $885 through our GoFundMe.com page, all of which will be used to reduce the invasive milfoil in our lake. This winter has been warmer than average and, thus, creates additional unforeseen challenges in controlling milfoil as the spring season draws upon us. In order for the drawdown to be effective, there needs to be a substantial layer of ice and frozen ground for an extended period of time. Please see the Drawdown news below for more specific information about this winter’s weather effects on our efforts to control invasive species.  No matter the weather, we need to be diligent and proactive in controlling the milfoil, and your contribution to the GoFundMe.com page helps us to hire divers and buy necessary to hand pull weeds, among other initiatives.

Please continue to share the GoFundMe page, as every dollar counts. Thank you to all of you who donated over the holidays.  https://www.gofundme.com/sanddamri

Boat Greeter Program – Mary O’Keeffe

Volunteers from SDRA contributed nearly 100 hours of outreach and education to promote proper boater hygiene in order to prevent the spread of invasive species. A total of 44 boaters allowed us to perform complementary inspections at the boat launch (substantially fewer than the 100+boats we inspected during the 2014 season – low water levels led to the cancellation of a number of scheduled tournaments). Plant material was found on 25% of the inspected boats and trailers – while not all plant material was confirmed to be invasive, the high percentage of “dirty” boats reinforces the importance of educating boaters on the critical role of cleaning boats, trailers, and equipment between uses in order to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species.

The 2016 fishing season gets underway April 1st. Soon we will receive a list of this year’s tournaments and schedule times to work the boat launch. We are always looking for new volunteers. On-the-job training is provided and you get to hang out at the boat launch, chat with boaters, and do good works all with the backdrop of our glorious lake. Dates and times will be posted in a future newsletter but if you think you might be interested, don’t wait! Send me an email (sdra.secretary@cox.net) or give me a call (568-2657) and I can send you the RI Boat Greeters’ Handbook to get you started.

Finally, please remember to enforce good boater hygiene for friends and family members who launch from your property, and be sure to practice it yourself. A very small plant fragment can contaminate an entire lake. To date, Smith & Sayles (aka Sand Dam) Reservoir’s only confirmed invasive aquatic species is variable milfoil (and we all know what a problem that is!). Nearby lakes have invasive plants including fanwort, bladderwort, spiny naiad, mudmat, curly leaf pondweed, parrot feather, water chestnut, Eurasian milfoil, and Brazilian elodea. Seven lakes and one river in the state are contaminated with Asian clams, and nearby CT and MA lakes have Zebra Mussels.

Practice and require these simple steps to help protect our beautiful lake:

• Inspect and clean. Examine boats and trailers before and after any use. Carefully remove any mud, plant or animal material before transporting boats, recreational equipment, fishing gear or equipment.
• Allow time to dry. Clean and dry anything that came in contact with the water (boat, trailers, recreational equipment, clothing, dogs, etc.)
• Isolate and drain. Empty water from boat wells and motors far away from lakes and rivers.
• Discard into trash. Dispose any unused bait into proper garbage receptacles; do not empty bait buckets into the water. Dispose of plant material far from water’s edge.
• Prevent releases. Avoid disposing plants, fish or animals from aquariums or water gardens into local water bodies.

(from http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/surfwq/aisindex.htm)

Drawdown – Judy Colaluca and Art Searle

The drawdown for the 2015-2016 winter is concluded. You may review our records about the drawdown at https://sites.google.com/site/sdradrawdown/2015-drawdown. You may view a lake level visual at https://goo.gl/vwVqqa.

Here is a by-the-numbers summary of the drawdown:

• The Colaluca family made and recorded 105 lake level measurements.
• Mike Benoit made and recorded dissolved oxygen levels.
• Dave Morin made countless adjustments to the low level water outlet to moderate the lake level.
• Our records indicate there were ten days where the average temperature for the day was at freezing or below and there was no snow or ice covering the exposed lake bed. Both conditions are important for killing milfoil. The chart below illustrates the lake level on the prime freezing days. While the most recent winter was nowhere near as brutal as the winter 2014-2015, we remain hopeful that our hard work results in reduced milfoil.

We recognize that drawdown is not the single, encompassing solution we might like. Yet, we believe in the effort and its proven success at controlling milfoil in the shallower regions of the lake. We hope to conduct another drawdown during the winter of 2016-2017

Keech Pond Liaison – Rico Colaluca

I  talked  with John Holmes at the beginning of February and discussed what Keech Pond has in the works for the coming season. He tells me they are going to study and examine their dam structure and look for any kind of holes which may have been made by little creatures and fill them back in. He informs me  these holes are their main concern as they will weaken the dam.

John also told me their gate is now fully open.

Lake Management Plan – Rico Colaluca

Our Lake Management plan is a revolving door and keeps moving forward with the help of the  lake management team. Please ask a member how you can help.

Nomination and Elections – Rico Colaluca and Steve Hanley

The Nominating Committee would like to hear from you if you have any suggestions prior to our Annual Meeting in June.  This is an opportunity to help your lake Association to grow, flourish, and thrive.  We will be requesting nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting.  

If you would like to run for office or know someone who does, please inform Steve or Rico.   If you want to join the SDRA Board, please contact Steve Hanley (schanley45@gmail.com) or Rico Colaluca (rcolaluca@aol.com).

Save the Lakes – Judy Colaluca

On April 9th BassPro Shop at Patriots Place will be hosting the second Annual “Celebrate Your Love of Lakes” Day.  Join us for this fun event. This is great opportunity to meet and discuss what is happening on OUR lake with others who care deeply about freshwater. There will be professional  fishermen from neighboring Massachusetts  and Connecticut attending to share some fishing hints.  We hope to see you there and share in the fun.

Save The Lakes will be holding its Annual Meeting on April 28 at the Coventry Senior Center, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, at 50 Wood Street in Coventry. DEM will be discussing their plans for 2016, and Linda Green from the URI Watershed Watch will be presenting.  This will be an interesting and informative meeting. Please join us. Come join our community of lake advocates and learn along with us.  We’d be delighted to see you there.  

Social News

Congratulations to Sammy Hawkes and Ashley Hopkins, who were married in October, 2015.  They are also expecting their first child in July, 2016.  Moreover, best wishes go out to Marissa and Denny Manville, who will add a second child to their wonderful family in 2016.  

Carolyn Fortuna said goodbye to her dad, Andrew Fortuna, who died early in 2016 after suffering a stroke.  On April 2nd, Mrs “B” (Florence Beauregard) will turn 97 years old!  She is looking forward to warm sunny days to sit outside on the deck.  

If you have news that you’d like to share with your lake community, please contact Lynn Kohanski (lynnkohanski@yahoo.com).

RSVP

Sand Dam Reservoir Association

Annual Meeting

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Glocester Town Hall

Social hour 6- 7 p.m., Business meeting 7-9 p.m.

All are welcomed.