Town To Dredge Hawley And Three Other Ponds

By Andrew Gorosko

The town is preparing to dredge four local ponds as part of its continuing program to keep the municipal stormwater drainage system operating properly.

During the next several months, the town will have contractors dredge Hawley Pond on Newtown Cemetery Association property on Elm Drive, a pond at 18 Taunton Ridge Road, a pond at 7 Hunting Ridge Road, and a pond on Plumtrees Road.

The town is in the process of hiring contractors to do the pond dredging, according to Fred Hurley, director of public works.

Such ponds receive water discharges from the town’s stormwater sewer system, and across time, fill up with road sand, Mr Hurley said. The town seeks to clean out each of several dozen local ponds at least once every 20 years. Dredging the ponds increases their capacity to accept silt from the stormwater sewer system.

Hawley Pond, which is situated on the southern end of the Ram Pasture, receives much road sand from the stormwater sewer system. In effect, such ponds act as huge sand sumps, functioning like catch basins in trapping sediments that wash off area roads.

If the material dredged from such ponds is not used for filling or grading work nearby, it is then used as a component in the town’s topsoil manufacturing process. The nutrient-rich pond sediments are mixed with road sweepings to make topsoil, which is used for filling work in various places, Mr Hurley said.

The pond dredging is done with an excavator or bulldozer, depending on conditions at the given pond, Mr Hurley said. Often, ponds are drained before they are dredged.

Ponds are very effective in filtering out sediments from watercourses, Mr Hurley said, noting that ponds act to clarify the water flowing in brooks and streams.

The town cooperates with property owners in dredging local ponds, many of which are on private property, he said.

In some cases, the town dredges stormwater detention basins, which are artificial bodies of water in subdivisions created by developers to minimize the effects of stormwater runoff in developed areas.

In October, the town received permission from the Conservation Commission to dredge silt from the four ponds.