Residents seek weed solution

HUDSON – Residents concerned that Ottarnic Pond is becoming choked with invasive weeds are hoping to raise funds to have the pond treated.

According to the latest estimates, Advocates for Ottarnic Pond would need to raise about $10,000 to have the pond treated for milfoil.

The group could potentially get up to half the funds to treat the pond from the state Department of Environmental Services, resident Carol Dolloff said.

The group is part of Hudson’s Friends of Natural Resources.

The state tested the pond in October and found a large amount of milfoil, which is classified as a nuisance species. The plant can grow up to 15 feet and can spread when bits of the plant break off. A boat propeller or wind can spread the plant from one body of water to the next.

About half of the pond, or around 25 acres, has milfoil, said Curt Laffin, a member of Hudson’s Friends of Natural Resources. The areas hit resemble a doughnut, ringing the center of the pond, he said.

The pond would be treated with a chemical to help reduce the amount of milfoil.

“It is something that (we’ll) most likely have to repeat every year because of the intensity of the growth,” Dolloff said.

The group hopes to send out a mass mailing to residents in the watershed area about the pond and steps to protect it from further damage.

If the group can’t come up with the money this year, it may have to wait for the pond to be treated, Laffin said. The organization plans to meet with the Conservation Commission to see if it has funds available, he said.

One of the residents has also set up a Web site that has pictures and information about Ottarnic Pond (www.ottarnicpond.com)

Dolloff, who’s lived in the area for more than 30 years, said she’s noticed less open water over the years. The marshland around the pond is also growing denser.

When she first moved to the pond area, there was a public beach, boating and canoeing, she said.

“I think I’d like to see it better than the way it was,” she said. “I would like to see what we could do (to get) the weeds checked.”