Volunteers organized by the Mystic River Watershed Association and a harvesting machine hired by the Town of Arlington have been making good progress in removing the Water Chestnut plants from the Reservoir. Every plant that we remove this summer will mean fewer seeds (and plants) next year. Water chestnuts if left unchecked can totally cover the water surface dramatically affecting aquatic and bird habitat. More information about the Town’s efforts can be found at: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/town-governance/boards-and-committees/conservation-commission/projects
The harvesting machine has already been at work the past week and is scheduled to continue for another week. The haul has been taken to the emergency spillway for later removal by DPW.
The water is now looking quite open except for some northern areas in Lexington near LexFarm and Rindge Park. This should look even better by the end of the week.
(The upper right corner where there’s a gap in the tree coverage is Arlington’s Great Meadows which feeds into Mill Brook.)