© Newburyport Daily News
By Lynne Hendricks
Staff writer
AMESBURY — The nutrient-plagued Lake Attitash will get some help this winter to return it to its former pristine state, thanks to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
State Rep. Mike Costello, D-Newburyport, and state Sen. Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, announced yesterday that the Lake Attitash Watershed will receive $146,040 in funding to help deal with some of the problems contributing to an overall degradation of the lake's water quality.
For Lake Attitash Association President Tod Campbell, news that the lake would be getting help from the state came as a pleasant surprise.
"We just heard about it from you," said Campbell, who said the association had not been notified of the award but was nonetheless pleased. "Money to work on the issues we're working on is always great news."
In recent years, Lake Attitash has been overrun with a toxic blue algae, cyanobacteria, which is said to be caused by an abundance of nutrients in the lake that are funneling down into the watershed from fertilized lawns along the shore and other sources. The bacteria has forced the closure of the lake for the better part of the past two summers, as it poses a danger to humans and animals who come into contact with it.
Other problems have been discovered through studies that note low oxygen levels in the lake, a problem with invasive weeds and plants, and dwindling fish populations. Campbell said that the group applied for the grant last spring with the help of Comprehensive Environmental Inc. with the intent of tackling a few small but glaring problems that would have a big impact on the health of the lake.
"We looked at a couple areas in Merrimac that were flowing unabated into the lake, not only causing flooding, but also flowing over the surface of some roadway areas uncontrollably and not getting settled and treated before hitting the lake," Campbell said.
He said plans call for removal of a dead-end "turnaround," as it leads nowhere and simply provides one more impervious surface inhibiting the earth's natural filtration process. The roadway was installed as part of a new development in Merrimac, he said.
That section of road will be replaced, per the association's plan, with a rain garden, a natural neutralizer of phosphates and other harmful nutrients that hopefully will be replicated in other areas around the lake where water is pooling or flooding due to poor drainage and runoff.
"Where water is visibly or noticeably flowing off the roadways into the lake, (we) will create a depressed area with a garden," he said. "It will be landscaped as something you like to look at, but will allow for a pooling area to take up the nutrients. The idea of these is also to serve as a demonstration to people around the lake. This is something that we can do in places where the town has a right of way, but it's also something people can do on their own."
Proposing these and other educational outreach measures to the lakefront community is what Campbell believes sold the DEP on approving the group's application. This is the second such grant the association has received from the state.
"With the other one, we put in storm-water systems from 1st through 5th streets," Campbell said. "It still has issues, but it's just a very steep set of roadways over there, and there were no storm-water systems. As water came down the hill, it would just flow into the water uncontrolled. We've improved it and done probably 85 to 90 percent of what needs to be done. That was a great program."
Baddour said that the funding will help make Attitash healthier for recreation.
"This grant from MassDEP is a great step in the right direction in restoring the Lake Attitash Watershed by making it safer and usable for recreational activity," he said.
Costello, who grew up in Amesbury, issued a similar statement.
"Lake Attitash is a valuable, natural resource," he said. "These funds will help protect, preserve and enhance the water supply so that it can be enjoyed by the people of Amesbury for years to come."
A total of $2 million in grants was allocated to various communities in this annual round of funding.