WESTFIELD – The Conservation Commission is embarking on a project to rid the old Brickyard Ponds of water chestnuts.
Not to be confused with the chinese vegetable, the Eurasian invasive water chestnut is a nuisance to water. They cover lakes, reducing light and oxygen for aquatic species, displacing food sources for waterfowl,and interfering with water recreation.
Karen Leigh of the Westfield Conservation Commission said in July, local Boy Scout volunteers will begin clearing the privately owned pond of the plants.
“I’m not a fan of using chemicals to treat the water, so we will be manually removing the water chestnits,” said Leigh.
Leigh became aware of the water chestnuts last summer when local fisherman alerted her to the growing problem.
“They can change the water quality,” Leigh said. “And they spread rapidly.”
Leigh said one acre of water chestnuts can become 100 acres in just a year and their seeds are viable for up to a dozen years.
Because of the rapid growth and ability to live for so long, Leigh expects to remove the invasives for several years.
“This will be a multi-year project and then it will become a maintenance issue,” she said. “I expect to have three good years of removal.”
The volunteers will traverse one section of the pond at a time in canoes and gather the water chestnuts by hand. They will be bagged and disposed of at the town landfill.
The water chestnut is a rooted aquatic plant with triangular-shaped floating leaves and a woody, spiny fruit that can form dense impenetrable mats at the water’s surface. The water chestnut’s slender stems can reach lengths of 15 feet, and small white flowers with four petals develop from July until the first frost.
The water chestnut is a very hardy species that is well established. Each nut can produce 10-15 plants and each of these plants may produce up to 20 seeds.
The nuts are released in the fall and quickly sink into the sediments, where they can remain viable for up to 12 years. Nuts have also been observed attached to the feathers of waterfowl, and are possibly spread to new locations if the birds travel.
Leigh said the Brickyard Ponds are located at Root and North roads.
