SHREWSBURY – If you’ve noticed that Lake Quinsigamond looks especially clean lately, thank the Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association.
Between 9 a.m. and noon on July 20, roughly 25 volunteers gathered at Gauch Park in Shrewsbury to pull invasive water chestnut plants out of Lake Quinsigamond. Volunteers kayaked throughout the lake, pulled the chestnuts out of the water and returned to shore with hampers full of plants.
The Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association also organized cleanups on June 8 and June 12.
The invasive water chestnut plants can crowd out native species and lead to an excessive amount of plant matter in the lake. An overabundance of weeds can make boating difficult and may lead to harmful side effects for the watershed, including fish kills. The water chestnut seed pods live up to 10 years and spread quickly.
The Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association has been pulling the chestnuts since 2021.
“It makes me feel really good [to see people here]. This is our fourth year doing it, and at first we started on Facebook and got a few people. We didn’t have a lot, so it feels really good to see so many people come out and give up a Saturday in the summer. They think that the watershed is important. It’s making a difference,” Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association President Barbara Kickham told the Community Advocate.
Worcester provided kayaks for volunteers, while Shrewsbury disposed of the weeds. The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency helped pay for bags, gloves, and other necessary equipment, and Girl Scout Caeley Gale – who is working on her Gold Award – was “instrumental” in finding volunteers and helping with outreach, said Kickham.
The Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association was founded in 1984 and includes roughly 150 volunteers “committed to enhancing the quality of life in and around Lake Quinsigamond for all of its natural and human residents. It was incorporated for the purpose of restoring, preserving and maintaining the environmental water quality and recreational quality of the watershed area,” according to its website.
For more information on the Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association, please visit https://www.lqwa.org/.
