EWM Update & Invitation

 The following message has been sent to JPA members and others in our community: 

 

To the JPA membership:

As announced in the JPA 2026 Annual Newsletter Water Quality Report and repeated at the JPA Spring Meeting on 05/23/26, we are working to expand the Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) Harvesting Team.

The JPA EWM Harvesting Team is composed of volunteer JPA members who are tasked with hand-pulling established EWM patches and individual plants.  The Harvesting Team consists of two elements: a Dive Team and a Surface Support Team.  The Dive Team is made up of SCUBA and SNUBA equipped divers.  The Surface Support Team staffs the mother boat and includes kayakers tasked with watching for and retrieving liberated EWM fragments and providing safety monitoring for the divers.  The Surface Support Team is also responsible for mobilizing, demobilizing and servicing the dive and harvesting equipment.  SNUBA differs substantially from SCUBA in that the diver does not carry his or her oxygen supply but is supplied directly from a nearby floating air compressor (sometimes referred to as a Hookah system). 

In 2025 the Harvesting Team typically worked 4-6 hours per day on two days most weekends between Friday and Sunday.  Harvesting operations began around mid-June and terminated in early October.  Daily operations typically commence mid-late morning and end by mid-afternoon.  Scheduling is somewhat flexible based on the variable availability of team members.  We anticipate the 2026 harvesting operations are not likely to depart substantially from that of 2025.  The team operates under the direction of JPA and EWM Management Committee member Jim Bernotas, a certified and extensively experienced and knowledgeable SCUBA diver.

The limited participation of JPA members in EWM harvesting operations represents the most significant limiting factor in our ability to contain and control EWM proliferation.  Harvesting Team members, in 2025, devoted hundreds of hours working to protect Joe's Pond.  These few dedicated members cannot reasonably be expected to continue this level of effort indefinitely.  We desperately need additional members to step up, introduce now blood, energy and enthusiasm, and sustain the Harvesting Team as a vital, robust and effective element of the JPA EWM management infrastructure. 

The more effective and productive the Harvesting Team can be, the less likely the JPA will have to fall back on herbicide treatments to keep ahead of EWM proliferation.  We work hard yet find opportunities to have fun in achieving a shared objective together.

If you feel you are not able to dive and work underwater but are interested in serving as part of the surface support team, contact Joanne Stewart (verthai@gmail.com) so she can include you on the Surface Support Team contact list and you can be notified of the Harvesting Team schedule.

Anyone who will be involved in EWM harvesting operations will be required to sign a waiver form releasing the JPA from liability for any injuries suffered by the team member during the course of the Harvesting Team's work.

The JPA will offer and conduct a SNUBA and EWM harvesting training session on Saturday, June 20^th at 1:00 PM at the JPA dock near the JPA clubhouse and recreation area.  Please attend if you feel you are able to contribute in any way. 

Divers will need wet suits, gloves, goggles, and fins (not necessarily for the training).  If you do not currently possess this equipment but are committed to becoming involved in this vital effort, please consult with Jim Bernotas at: customshopjim@gmail.com about appropriate equipment.  You can then get fitted for and purchase a wet suit at a supplier.  If financial assistance is necessary for you to be able to make this commitment to the protection of Joe's Pond and the equipment purchase, the JPA will consider assisting you monetarily.  Any member interested and wishing to know more about this can contact Barry Cahoon, JPA Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Coordinator at bear817@hotmail.com.

If you would like to join the Harvesting Team as a diver but are unable to attend this scheduled training, contact Jim Bernotas (email address above) and request to be added to the Harvesting Team distribution list.  You will then be notified of the schedule and mobilization details for harvesting operations so that you can attend and observe the team at work and interact with members as a training opportunity.

Working together we can achieve our ultimate EWM management objective: an EWM-free Joe's Pond!

Thank you.

For the Joe's Pond Association

Joe Hebert, President

Barry Cahoon, Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Coordinator

 

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We hope Joe's Ponders not already involved will consider joining the team. It is critical to engage as many as possible if we are to beat the invasion of EWM at Joe's Pond. Others in the surrounding communities are welcome to join - Joe's Pond is important to many more than just those who live along its shores. Please consider joining the team as a diver or part of the support group. Reach out to Joanne or Jim - there will be some important way you can help, even if you don't dive or aren't a kayaker. This is a hard-working, dedicated group, but they also manage to have fun while doing important work. 

 

Just a note since I haven't posted here on the blog for a while - it's been busy! I've been busy! Last week we celebrated Cyndi Rouleau's birthday (again - she was under the weather on her actual birthday, so we had to have lunch that day without her). We went to "The Nook" in Barton and had a very nice time - it is a little bar/lunch spot right in the middle of town that Bob and I discovered some time ago. The food is good and there's a large variety to choose from. We had fun and of course got a picture for posterity. Here you see, let to right:  Cyndi, seated, me, Sherri LaPrade, Dotty Noyes, and Diane Rossi (seated.) We had very comfortable armchairs at a round table - perfect, and there was lots of activity there even though we arrived quite early. The place was very busy - a popular spot, apparently. The weather cooperated and wasn't too cold and rainy - although it wasn't as warm and spring-like as would be expected for late May.

 

Today is quite nice - a bit warmer than yesterday and the forecast is for a warming trend - welcome news after several really cold nights in the 30s. I broke my own "rule" and put a few of my big house plants out on the porch last week when it was warm - then the weather began to go sideways again and by the weekend we were cautioned about frosts and snow flurries, so I hauled them back inside. I will try again today, I think. My "rule" is that nothing can safely be outside overnight until the 2nd week of June. This was clearly a "Do as I say, not as I do," situation. But hopefully we've seen the last of really cold nights and the plants will be happy outside until October.

 

Now I need to get busy and catch up on some emails and perhaps get outside after lunch to do a little work. Even with the cool, wet weather things grow - especially the grass and weeds in the flower beds. And it's the 1st of the month - time to reconcile the checkbook and do a little bookkeeping. I'm also putting discards together for the big July 4th rummage sale in Cabot. Plenty to keep me busy today!