Smith and Sayles Reservoir – Page 2 – Sand Dam Reservoir Association

02/15/2017

A 6-Course Wine Dinner to Help a Local Nonprofit with Big Sustainability Goals

Smith and Sayles Reservoir in Chepachet has been a site for recreational fishing, people-powered boating, and swimming for decades. It’s also one of the most pristine lake settings in southern New England due to long parcels abutting the lake on the Glocester Land Trust properties.

And a very active lake association that represents over 35 families has been doing everything it can to keep the lake clean, clear, and safe. One obstacle confronting San Dam Reservoir Association (SDRA) is invasive weeds, particularly variable milfoil. Milfoil is a “hitchhiker” that attaches itself to boats and is transferred from one lake to another.

What has SDRA done about invasive weeds?

In 2017, SDRA will continue its voluntary boat inspection program. A team of lake and community members greets boaters to educate and reinforce the importance of proper boater hygiene in stopping the spread of invasive species like milfoil. “DEM has documented over a dozen different invasive species in RI lakes,” says Mary O’Keeffe, SDRA’s boat inspection program coordinator. “So far, variable milfoil is the only invasive plant species found in our lake. Educating boaters and teaching them how to inspect and clean their boats is an important primary prevention effort. We find plant material on about 20% of the boats/trailers that visit the boat launch.”

While the boat inspection team can identify new invasives that might be introduced into Smith and Sayles Reservoir, the existing milfoil continues to be a problem. According to SDRA President Judy Colaluca, “Invasive weeds are here to stay. Controlling them and limiting their expansion is our goal. To attain this goal ALL must work as a team utilizing numerous methods.”

SDRA has tried hand pulling weeds, hiring divers, experimenting with a mat to prevent sunlight on the lake bottom, and working in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEM) each autumn to draw down the lake level. That last measure, hopefully, freezes plants when areas of the lake bottom are exposed. SDRA even went so far nearly ten years ago to apply chemicals to the weeds’ roots. That solution proved to be only temporary. It also wasn’t sustainable, may produce health consequences, and flamed tensions among members.

SDRA’s lake management committee kept researching new methods to mitigate invasives. In 2015, a Massachusetts lake association caught SDRA’s attention with their own invasive weed reduction program. “Suction harvesting can be an effective, environmentally friendly option for milfoil reduction,” explains SDRA’s Lake Management Chair, Art Searle. “Imagine a powerful, floating shop vac guided by divers who position a suction nozzle near milfoil roots. A topside crew collects and composts milfoil. That’s the essence of diver assisted suction harvesting.”

A suction harvester, which combines a pontoon boat based with a vacuuming device and weed collection area, was appealing to SDRA. Because it was decentralized, too, it could be operated by trained assocation members, thereby adjusting its use to the times when the invasive milfoil’s red stalks and root systems were most prominent.

Nothing’s free, and suction harvesters are quite pricey

There was one really big barrier to SDRA’s purchase of a suction harvester, however.

A suction harvester is expensive, especially for a relatively small organization like SDRA: $17,000. Fast forward to the past year. SDRA held two major fundraisers — one at Mulberry Vineyard and another at the Purple Cat Winery — to boost the treasury. By late summer 2016, SDRA was able to purchase a suction harvester.

It has worked great so far! Even with only a short amount of time remaining to the 2016 high season after purchase, SDRA was able to fill around 200 biodegradable bags with invasive milfoil from Smith and Sayles Reservoir.

But the purchase of the suction harvester affected SDRA’s treasury significantly. A winter 2017 fundraising drive was very helpful. But, in order to maintain and sustain the suction harvester and continue to build in other sustainability initiatives to preserve the Reservoir, SDRA needs to continue to replenish its treasury.

A 6-course wine dinner for only $45 per person at Bella’s

So there’s another SDRA fundraiser in the near future. Won’t you join us at Bella’s Restaurant on Saturday, April 8, 2017 for an evening of six excellent chef-selected dishes paired with six wines suggested by Kitson’s Liquors? You’ll also have the opportunity to review items in a Silent Auction, take a chance on a 50-50 raffle, and, most importantly, chat about community sustainability issues with SDRA members and interested friends. You’ll be contributing to a healthy Smith and Sayles Reservoir lake ecosystem.

Tickets are $45 each. For more information, contact Carolyn Fortuna at c4tuna31@gmail.com.

09/27/2016

September, 2016 SDRA Newsletter

Sand Dam Reservoir Association Newsletter

www.sanddamreservoir.com

September, 2016

The Suction Harvester Has Arrived!

We did it! After months of fundraising, grant writing, and membership drives, SDRA accumulated enough capital to purchase a Suction Harvester. Our Lake Management Committee did significant research and made recommendations to the SDRA Board. Together, we considered types of equipment, the level of our treasury, the costs associated with the expenditure, and the possible benefits. Ultimately, SDRA made the decision to go ahead and purchase a Suction Harvester from Aquacleaner.

A Suction Harvester is designed to suck up any type of solids that will pass through a hose. By manipulating a hose- — which takes a lot of practice and grace — a diver extracts unwanted plants and solids right from the rooting system, so they don’t grow back as fast. The machine is equipped with filtration that allows the water to pass through it, while capturing plants, rocks, sticks, leaves and assorted debris. This machine is an environmentally friendly means of dealing with an overwhelming problem.

Aquatic vegetation grows and dies each year, sending the skeleton of the plant to the lake’s bottom. There, the plants decompose and fragment. That increases the density of the plants in following seasons and adds to the buildup of organic sediment. Suction Harvesting slows this process down and, over repeated use, may halt the cycle. In contrast with chemical treatments or weed cutters, a Suction Harvester has the advantage of selectivity. If we want only the milfoil removed but want the lily pads to remain untouched, we can do so.

There are several criteria that must be assessed to determine the rate of progress (ROP) that we can achieve using the Aquacleaner Suction Harvester. These include:

Type of plant: A plant’s rooting system dictates how fast we can remove this year’s plant. We’ll attempt to get both this year’s and last year’s plants out.
The type of bottom – Soft, silted in bottoms like those in Smith & Sayles Reservoir make plant removal and its rooting system easier to extract than if we had hard bottoms like clay or sand. Those require more suction to get to the rooting system of the plant.
The density of the plant: This means that we have to consider how many plants are in a given box as well as how tall they are. More Biomass requires more time to go through a given area.
The Depth of the water: Deeper water slows the rate of progress due to the logistics of moving around while under water and the size of the plants involved.
Other: Sometimes there is debris in the area that needs to be cleaned. Leaves, sticks, rocks, and larger items must be removed as part of a shoreline remediation and to maximize use of the lake.

If you’d like to use the Suction Harvester around your property, you must meet several criteria: 1) You must be a SDRA member in good standing. 2) You must be fully trained to use the Suction Harvester. 3) You must sign a liability waiver. Trainings are available for interested SDRA members. Please contact Rico Colaluca at 401-568-4267 to set up trainings.

President’s Message

As President of SDRA, I am excited and so pleased that so many SDRA Community members have come forward and want to use and support the Harvester. The weed pull on Saturday, August 13: Successful!! More than 25 members, of all ages, came to “WORK!” Everyone found something to do and did it well!! Art, who trailered the extracted weeds to his farm, stated that most of the weeds sucked up were milfoil with the roots. Perfect!! That is what we want to do– leave the native grasses in the lake to keep our lake natural. Good job, EVERYONE! A big thank you to the Finlaw Family for hosting lunch for a group of hungry SDRA Members! And after the weed pull, Mary organized a successful boat inspection at the boat ramp!! Mary’s work is keeping invasive weeds out of OUR lake. Presently, rules and procedures are being composed for the harvester. All ideas accepted. This is a work in progress.

Thank you everyone!!

Judy Colaluca

Treasurer’s Update

The purchase of the Suction Harvester has clearly diminished our SDRA financial picture. So, too, are the regular late summer expenditures, which include our Save the Lakes membership dues, the dam master annual payment, liability insurance payment, and surety/dishonesty bond.

A robust membership drive, the GoFundMe campaign, and a late autumn fundraiser are in the planning stages. Please, if you can help to offset the costs of the Suction Harvester, please donate generously. It is a commitment to the future health of our lake.

If you have not yet done so, please remember to pay your 2016 dues ($50) to help support efforts to keep our lake beautiful and healthy.

Dues payments can be sent to:

SDRA, PO Box 284, Chepachet, RI 02814

Thanks, everybody, for contributing to the sustainable future for Smith & Sayles Reservoir.

Carolyn Fortuna

Sand Dam Day

How wonderful it was to see many of you at our annual Sand Dam Day celebration! We enjoyed good company, great food, and a simply gorgeous setting on our beautiful lake.

William Carley and Laura Maguire demonstrated amazing Corn-Hole skills, and we were all wowed by our first look at the SDRA suction harvester! The Danvilles were gracious hosts. Thanks for opening up your home and lakefront to your Sand Dam Reservoir Association neighbors. It was great!

Milfoil Disposal

Millfoil is an extremely resiliant, opportunistic plant. I hauled about three cubic yards of milfoil from our August 6 weed pull to my compost pile. After four weeks of composting, I decided to examine the pile. The top few inches, baked by the sun, was thoroughly dried, and dead. But just underneath the sun baked surface, I discovered viable, growing milfoil. My discovery prompted me to suggest some words of caution for handling and disposing of milfoil. First, make sure that the milfoil is moved as far from any water body as is physically possible. Be cognizant of surface water flow in and around your disposal site. Ask, “Could any of this milfoil wash back into the pond during a heavy rain?” If so, you need another disposal site! Turning the pile to ensure complete drying will reduce the likelihood of any milfoil growing or escaping. Be careful with fragments. Milfoil segments left on a beach or shoreline are likely to find their way back to the water where they will continue to proliferate.

Removed from water, this milfoil plant continues to grow four weeks later.

2016/2017 Officers

President Judy Colaluca

Vice President Lynn Kohanski

Treasurer Carolyn Fortuna

Secretary Mary O’Keeffe

Directors: Marissa Danville, Eric Lariviere, Brian Sirois

Lake Management Team

Art Searle, Chairman

Dave Morin

Dennis Danville

Sam Hawk

Mary O’Keeffe

Rico Colaluca

Please contact Officers or Lake Management Team with questions or comments

09/27/2016

June 2016 SDRA Newsletter

Sand Dam Reservoir Association

June 2016 Newsletter

www.sanddamreservoir.com

Board of Directors’ Updates

President’s Update

Summer, wonderful summer is here!! Without a doubt days are longer and warmer, water crafts are traveling around the lake, children can be heard laughing as they jump into the lake for the first time: excitement is everywhere. Smith and Sayles is getting ready for all to enjoy!

One of the best ways to ready yourself for the summer is to attend the Annual Sand Dam Reservoir Association Meeting on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in Room #9 at the Glocester Town Hall on Main Street in Chepachet. We’ll have a social hour from 6-7pm and the business meeting will run from 7-9pm. (Make sure you have paid your dues so you can vote). There are many important agenda items that need to be discussed, information shared, plans to be developed, and decisions made that directly concern Smith and Sayles Reservoir. Attend and get involved!!

In your early summer lakefront planning, please consider your actions around the lake. Drainage into our lake constantly occurs — nutrients from fertilizers, compost piles, filling in to extend your property, and runoff are all polluting our beautiful lake. Our lake needs to be protected and, as lakefront stewards, that is our job!

— Judy Colaluca

Secretary’s Update

During the spring months, the SDRA Board of Directors has met several times to plan and discuss matters of importance to the Sand Dam community. Fundraising, education and outreach, lake management, the proposed 14-home lakefront development, lakefront clean-up efforts, coordination with Keech Pond, fundraising, and planning for the June 15th, 2016 annual meeting have been included on the BOD meeting agendas.

– Mary O’Keeffe

Treasurer’s Update

Quarterly Overview

In the dates from March-June 2016, we have maintained a stable treasury. The receipt of a State Legislative grant for $500 and the continued success of the GoFundMe site (see the Danville’s entry below) have been excellent additions to our treasury over the spring months. And, of course, our second fundraiser of the fiscal year also helped us to move forward financially.

Wine Tasting Fundraiser at the Purple Cat Vineyard and Winery

Flames burst from the center of the outside patio area, and the sounds of voices and laughter permeated the night air. SDRA’s second Wine Tasting event took place on Friday, May 20th from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Purple Cat Vineyard and Winery on Money Hill Road in Chepachet. Inside, guests listened to the sommelier describe the selection of wines. Across the room, SDRA’s volunteers served an assortment of appetizers including cheeses, dips, pizza strips, lemon squares, cookies, veggies, and many other different delights. The late spring Friday became a way for the community to reacquaint after a long winter season.

In addition to the wine and nibbles, guests had fun bidding on the various Silent Auction gift baskets. Local merchants such as Purple Cat Vineyard, Inland Marine, Frederickson Farm, Kitson’s Liquors, and Smithfield Supply were generous contributors, as were several SDRA and community members. Proceeds from the evening were added to the funds that SDRA has been raising toward the goal of reducing invasive milfoil in Smith & Sayles Reservoir with the construction of a suction harvester.

Dues and Membership

We have a robust membership in place, with 100% of members sustaining their dues payments over the last two years. If you are one of the very few backdated families who receive this newsletter and have not paid dues for 2015-2016, please send a check to Sand Dam Reservoir Association, PO Box 284, Chepachet, RI 02814 so that you, too, can vote at the June annual meeting. Thanks to everybody for your generosity and continued support of our Association’s efforts toward sustainable maintenance and protection of our beautiful lake environment.

Please remember to bring a check made out to SDRA in the amount of $50 for 2015-2016 dues. This will enable you to vote on any action items at the June 15 SDRA Annual Meeting. Thanks.

Annual Day of Service: Application Pending

One of SDRA’s sustainability partners is Northwest RI Supporters of Open Spaces. SDRA submitted a proposal to NRI SOS in response to a call to be part of an Annual Day of Service. The opportunity comes from an anonymous local workplace which would designate interested employees to participate in a volunteer project on the morning of Friday, October 14, 2016. We would host another dam clean-up day on Chestnut Hill Road, with the intent of removing any and all debris in proximity to the dam that have accumulated since our last clean-up in spring, 2016. You can see the narrative here. The application deadline was June 1; we’ll appraise our membership as soon as we hear back from NRI SOS if our application was or wasn’t approved.

Future Fundraising

With our recent wine tasting fundraiser less than a month old, the SDRA Board is still in the process of assessing our fundraising agenda as a whole, which seeks to deepen our treasury, involve our membership, and enhance community awareness of sustainability issues on Smith & Sayles Reservoir and other New England lakes. At this writing, we do not have another fundraiser in the works, so, if you have an idea and would like to join with SDRA Board and Committee members to spearhead a fundraiser, please let me know at c4tuna31@gmail.com.

— Carolyn Fortuna

Committee Reports

Boat Greeter Program

The Boat Greeter Program is an education and outreach effort designed to inform boaters about the importance of proper boater hygiene in preventing the spread of invasive species. Rhode Island is the only state in New England that does not have a formal program to inspect boats for plant and animal material prior to launch in local waters. Boat launch volunteers are stationed at our launch during high traffic times (mainly fishing tournaments) to perform complementary inspections and to talk with boaters about the importance of thoroughly cleaning boats after each use.

We’ve worked two scheduled tournaments so far this year, inspecting about 25 boats. Consistent with previous seasons, plant material has been found on about 25% of all boats. Participants in the fishing tournaments tend to be receptive, friendly, and well-educated about invasives, yet without a state-supported, formal inspection process a substantial number of these boats still arrive without being properly cleaned and inspected.

Surveys of our beautiful lake have confirmed only one type of invasive aquatic species, variable milfoil. Twelve additional species of aquatic invasive plants, including American Lotus, Brazilian elodea, curly-leaf pondweed, Eurasian milfoil, fanwort, inflated bladderwort, mudmat, parrot feather, spiny naiad, water chestnut, water hyacinth, and yellow floating heart, have been identified in Rhode Island’s ponds and lakes. In addition, eleven freshwater bodies in Rhode Island have confirmed Asian clam (aquatic invasive animal). The most important primary prevention effort we can engage in for our lake is to educate visitors, visually inspect their boats, and remove plant material while “driving home” the importance of proper boater hygiene.

We’re always looking for additional volunteers to help out with this important and rewarding activity. A sign-up sheet will be distributed at the annual meeting. Please feel free to contact me at mokeeffe@providence.edu or 568-2657 if you’d like to learn more about the SDRA Boat Greeter Program.

—- Mary O’Keeffe

Drawdown

The 2015-2016 Drawdown concluded on March 1, 2016. As noted in the previous newsletter, you may view the drawdown details online. During the summer months, we will continue evaluating drawdown effectiveness in the shallower areas of our lake. The 2016-2017 drawdown is scheduled to start Columbus Day Weekend.

— Judy Colaluca and Art Searle

GoFundMe Site

The GoFundMe.com page, proceeds of which will be used to reduce the invasive milfoil in our lake, continues to support SDRA’s efforts toward sustainable lake management. We are all aware of the 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 supplies 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 winter months, and feel free to ask us more about the program during our upcoming Annual Meeting on June 15.

Here is the website URL for the GoFundMe Site, in case you have an upcoming birthday and would like to designate a gift in your name. https://www.gofundme.com/sanddamri

— Marissa and Dennis Danville

Keech Pond

In May there was a request from Keech Pond to lower our lake to allow work to be done on the spillway of Keech Pond. John Holmes requested they would need a minimum of 12 inches. For this to be completed, we would have to lower the lake for Memorial Day Weekend. Since many folks on Smith & Sayles put their boats in and enjoy the lake at this time, it was decided by the Board not to comply with the request. Keech Pond agreed to do their work when we lower the lake in October.

— Rico Colaluca

Nomination and Elections

At the Annual Meeting on June 15, two positions will be open. One is the Treasurer, and the other is one Director. We do have candidates at this writing for both positions (Carolyn is running again for Treasurer for a final two-year term). If you would like to put your name in for either position, please notify us ASAP. We at the Nominating Committee are working alongside the SDRA Board of Directors and Janice Baker, who led the 2015 By-Laws revision, to assure we are interpreting the new two-term language contained within the By-Laws correctly.

—Rico Colaluca and Steve Hanley

Save the Lakes

On Thursday, May 26, Save The Lakes received a Resolution from RI State Senate and House of Representatives. What an honor to have members of the Senate and House stand and applaud for efforts being done by folks across the state. Our boat inspection program here on Smith and Sayles was highlighted by Senator Fogarty. Consider getting involved in STL as there is much to be done on the State level.

— Judy Colaluca

Website and Education

We are conducting a full website review and update in anticipation of the SDRA Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 15 at the Glocester Town Hall. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to read about the May 20 Wine Tasting event on our Association website, you can click here to read the blog post.

—Steve Hanley and Carolyn Fortuna

Thanks, everybody. See you at the SDRA Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the Glocester Town Hall.

09/02/201509/02/2015

September 2015 Newsletter

Sand Dam Reservoir Association Newsletter

September, 2015

www.sanddamreservoir.com

Board of Directors’ Updates

President- Judy Colaluca

What a great summer it has been here on Smith and Sayles!! All recreational endeavors around and in OUR lake are just wonderful this summer!! One of my most favorite activities is to listen to my grandchildren laugh as they splash and play in the water. What fun they have!! All the “kids,” young and old, have something they enjoy doing in the lake. For example, catching the biggest fish, swimming the furthest or doing the craziest stunt on the tube, and more are reasons to work hard at keeping our lake in perfect condition.

The awarding of the grant for a suction harvester should be known soon and that will be just another tool for us to “Protect” our lake. The team effort on this lake is terrific- but we could always use more hands to lighten the load. If you want to be active, just let me know. Help is needed to:

1) Assist the divers in weed pulling on September 19th — work on boats, cleaning up, financial donations;
2) Boat Inspection Program– checking boats to make sure no other invasive weed is introduced into our lake;
3) Planning educational workshops for landowners to improve their land without fostering weeds;
4) Grant searching and writing;
5) Planning a fall clean up on Chestnut Hill Road;
6) Fund raising- be sure to reserve a ticket for our wine tasting at Mulberry Vineyards here in Chepachet and check out http://www.gofundme.com/SandDamRI —- and others as your ideas develop.

As the summer winds down -Enjoy the Lake!! Contact a member of the SDRA Board with your suggestions concerns, ideas, and your willingness to join your neighbors for the improvement of OUR lake.

On Saturday, August 29, Mary, Art, Rico, several STL members, and I went to Hickory Hills Lake to watch a suction harvester in action! It was fascinating and much easier to operate than I had thought. There will be more information coming on this machine.

See you around the lake,

Judy

Vice President – Lynn Kohanski

I hope everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of summer on the lake. We have a lot of great ways to continue to help the lake thrive as Autumn quickly approaches. How about getting a few close family and friends together to attend an SDRA-sponsored wine tasting at Mulberry Vineyard? This is a great event to socialize and support our SDRA lake community and also a great kick-off to the fall season.

Also, thanks to the Danville’s for setting up an SDRA gofundme page. This is another easy way to help us reach our goal of $30,000 to get a new suction harvester for the lake. Please share the link/page recently sent out. Again, with all the wonderful things happening here, I encourage everyone to get involved in any way they feel comfortable. I hope to see/meet you at one of our events.

Secretary- Mary O’Keeffe

The 2015 annual meeting was a great success, with 30 SDRA members and friends in attendance. New for this year’s meeting was a 6-7pm social hour to provide friends and neighbors with an opportunity to “catch up” before the meeting. Our President (Judy) and Treasurer (Carolyn) put out an excellent spread of hors d’oeuvres and desserts (with other SDRA members also contributing tasty snacks). Also, as part of this community building effort, Vice President (Lynn) brought a large map of the lake and members worked together to identify “who lives where.” This year’s meeting was held at Glocester Town Hall. The meeting space, internet access (for presentations), and kitchen facilities were excellent, and we hope to hold future SDRA annual meetings at Town Hall.

The formal meeting ran from 7-9pm. Officers and Standing Committees made their reports, and a motion to change the SDRA By-Laws was approved. The main substantive By-Laws changes were to impose a two-year term limit on SDRA officers and reduce the residency requirement from 3 years to 1 year for the Directors. These changes are designed to promote active involvement from a wider range of members. Special thanks was given to Janice Baker, Rico Colaluca, Carolyn Fortuna, Dave Morin, and Art Searle for their extensive committee work, and, of course, to Judy Colaluca for her outstanding leadership as SDRA president.

New business included a report from Judy and Art on the ESS (Environmental Consulting and Engineering Services) survey results, discussion of the Mulberry Vineyards fundraising event (see notice later in the newsletter), and an invitation to Sand Dam Day, hosted this year by Carolyn Fortuna and Steve Hanley.

As you can see, we had a wonderfully productive and enjoyable time together. Be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s SDRA annual meeting which will be held Wednesday, June 15th.

Treasurer- Carolyn Fortuna

Our SDRA Annual Meeting in June gave attendees a convenient way to pay their 2015-2016 dues. Twenty-one families paid dues of $50 each, which boosted our bank balance considerably.

If you paid dues during our Spring 2015 Membership Drive, thank you. Your contribution allowed you to have a vote and voice at our Annual Meeting. Please remember: Our new fiscal year begins on July 1— after the Annual Meeting. If you did not pay dues at the Annual Meeting or since, you may not be caught up for the new SDRA year. If you have any questions as to your dues currency, please feel free to email me at c4tuna31@gmail.com. I’ll be happy to check the records and get back to you.

I’ll be sending out membership letters and renewal forms over the next month as well. Please mail your dues to SDRA, PO Box 284, Chepachet, RI 02814.

Standing Committees

Boat Greeter Program – Mary O’Keeffe

The GREAT (Greeting Recreationalists to Empower and Train Boaters) Boat Greeter program has been active this summer, providing education and outreach to address the problem of invasive species. In addition to the focus on invasive species common in the area (e.g., variable milfoil, fanwort, inflated bladderwort, Asian clam), we’ve also been talking to boaters about Largemouth Bass Virus, which has been found this summer in Echo Lake and Olney Pond. LMBV is spread through water and can live for up to 7 days. This reinforces the critical importance of proper boater hygiene (especially cleaning live wells, bags, and equipment) in order to keep our lake and wildlife healthy.

We have two remaining tournament dates for the season, Thursday, September 17th (4 pm start time) and Sunday, September 20th (6am start time). We’d love to have you join us if you are interested in seeing us in action and/or getting some on-the-job training.

Dam Master – Dave Morin

It has been a very, very easy summer to maintain the water levels at our lake, as we’ve had no significant rains. I’ve not had to go down on the water levels since the very beginning of the summer, in late May, when we had rains. Since then, the normal amount of seepage has occurred to meet DEM requirements.

Over Columbus Day Weekend, we’ll begin drawing the water down. We already have a head-start on it with the low rain levels this summer. As the water goes down, we open up more. Our ability to regulate the water levels also depends on Keach Pond’s plan to open up. We try to start before they do, to compensate for having to get rid of their water. Bertha Bedard is very helpful in letting us know when the water is flowing out of Keach. Eventually, we go over to the old dam and slide gate. We play around with that until we get the level down to where we want it to be. It all depends on the rain and snow that we get. Hopefully, before the freeze, we’ll have it down to the 54” mark.

Drawdown – Judy Colaluca and Art Searle

The annual drawdown will begin October 10, 2015, during Columbus Day weekend. We expect to drawdown approximately 1 to 2 inches per day until we reach our permitted drawdown depth of 54 inches. RI DEM, ESS Group’s June 2015 report, and our own visual inspections of the lake indicate that the drawdown helps control the growth and spread of milfoil. It is apparent that there are fewer patches of milfoil and that the patches are less dense than they were during the summer of 2014. We expect to meet with Brian Moore, DEM’s Office of Water Resources Chief during the fall to present the results of last winter’s drawdown.

Once the drawdown begins, we will provide a link so that you can monitor aspects of the drawdown such as lake level and other environmental conditions. If you would like to participate by taking lake measurements of dissolved oxygen measurements, we would love to hear from you. Contact us at your convenience if you have additional questions.

Our Next SDRA Event: Wine Tasting at Mulberry Vineyards— Ashley Hopkins and Carolyn Fortuna

On Friday, September 25, 2015, from 6-9:00 p.m., SDRA will host a Wine Tasting at Mulberry Vineyards, 95 Pound Road, Chepachet. Come join us as we attempt to raise funds to reduce invasive weeds on our lake. Tickets are $15 each ahead of time and can be reserved through c4tuna31@gmail.com or ashleyhopkins8@live.com. Tickets are $18 the night of the event. Appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages also will be served. Please share the flyer above and general announcement with family, friends, co-workers, and others who might be interested in a friendly night out for a really good cause. Think about it: if each SDRA member sold 5 tickets, we’d have a strong showing of commitment for DEM. We’d demonstrate that we have local capacity and are ready to provide matching funding for our suction harvester grant application.

Help us to sustain our lake and to help other lake association to understand how environmentally sound approaches to lake management can make arise from innovation and teamwork. Come be part of our Mulberry Vineyards Fundraising event. Thanks!

Other Fundraising– Marissa and Dennis Danville

The gofundme website is now up and running. We have already received several donations towards our goal of $30k for a suction harvester. Please share the following link with friends and family:

http://www.gofundme.com/SandDamRI

You can also share this on Facebook and twitter by visiting the site and clicking share or tweet, this is a great way to reach a large number of people quickly!!

Keech Pond Liaison – Rico Colaluca

I met with John Holmes recently and informed him of a need to start draining our lake before Keech Pond drains into our lake. He told me to call him when we begin to start draining our lake and he will give us a few days before he begins to drain Keech Pond. I stated we will start our drawdown on Columbus Day Weekend.

Lake Management Plan – Sam Hawkes

Divers Weed Pulling-— Saturday, September 19, 2015 is the date currently scheduled to have certified scuba divers return to the lake to pull invasive weeds this year. There will be 2 divers coming with full diving gear ready to work for the day. There is currently no cost associated with this activity; however, we will be providing the divers with a token of our gratitude (yet to be determined, although there’s talk of revisiting last year’s pizza party hit).

There are several activities and supplies that will need to be procured in preparation for the divers to make their time as efficient and effective as possible. Tow and haul boats, tarps, and volunteers will be greatly appreciated. This should be another great chance to build SDRA comradery! More details to come.

Water Testing — Myles and Deb Silva

Water testing this year has gone well. We have installed a new water test mooring at the north end to make our test results more repeatable. The water appears very clear with visibility to three meters. The high temperature as of yesterday is a warm 84 F.

Save the Lakes – Judy Colaluca

Save The Lakes was awarded a Resolution in the Senate Chambers at the RI State House this past June. How exciting to know that RI state leaders are supporting actions that concern freshwater across our beautiful state. The cesspool bill past this term and that benefits all lakes and ponds. There will be more educational workshops in the coming months. Check out the wesite www.stlri.com

Website and Education – Steve Hanley and Carolyn Fortuna

If you couldn’t be attendance for our annual Sand Dam Day festivities, check out the article Steve wrote on the Sand Dam Reservoir Association website: “Sand Dam Day 2015 A Smashing Success!”

Are you part of the network of 215 individuals who follow our website? If not, it’s easy to do! Go to our website at http://www.sanddamreservoir.com. On the Home page, in the right hand margin, you’ll see the bold title invitation to Follow This Blog. Click on it and fill in the information requested. After that, every time we send out a notice of What’s Happening at SDRA, you will get an email with the update. It’s really easy to stay in touch this way with SDRA.

The website contains lots of pages of information about our Association and the lake itself. You can find documents relating to our lake management plan, all the announcements and articles we’ve posted, a history of our Association, descriptions of the lake itself, and much more. The website is a good resource, one that is always evolving and changing — with your help! If you have something that you’d like to see included on our SDRA website, please send it along to schanley45@gmail.com or c4tuna31@gmail.com.

08/12/2015

Mulberry Vineyards Wine Tasting on September 25

Help support Sand Dam Reservoir Association’s endeavors to reduce invasive weeds on our lake. It will be a fun evening of good appetizers, conversation, and — of course! — wine. Come along and share in the fun, just as the foliage begins to turn. Check out Mulberry Vineyards at their website here.

Reserve your place by contacting c4tuna31@gmail.com or ashleyhopkins8@live.com

We’re looking forward to seeing you there!