How you can support Fresh Pond restoration (and why you should care)

By
Julia Brennan
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Images courtesy Robert Krulwich for Fresh Pond Neighbors Association

Wondering how you can support the Fresh Pond restoration project? Or, why should you care? Here’s a charming visual story about why Fresh Pond matters to all Islanders, followed by how you can help.

I’d been struggling to illustrate the story of Fresh Pond, scrolling through cool interactive posts on various high-profile, well-funded websites. This left me feeling sorry for my lack of digital wizardry.

So, to soothe my frustration, I went to the IGA to buy my go-to balm (malted cookie dough shake ice cream). There in the parking lot was Robert Krulwich and his wife, Tamar Lewin. On behalf of the Fresh Pond Neighbors Association, they were selling raffle tickets from a table with these wonderful illustrations taped to the top.

Why Fresh Pond matters to all Islanders

Special thanks to Krulwich for sharing these original images and captions.

A drawing in shades of blue and white shows a large glacier.
The large glacier has melted in this drawing, leaving behind a small chunk of ice as it receded. And red arrow indicates the blog of ice is at the future location of Fresh Pond.
This drawing shows more complex life forms emerging as the land rises now that its free of the weight of the ice, while the small chunk of remain ice sinks into a kettlehole.
This drawing shows the kettlehole filled with freshwater surrounded by dense forest and marshlands.
In this drawing, an imaginary giant pulls up the pond, lifting it above ground level to show how its waters connect below the surface to other groundwater sources.
This image is a handwritten caption explaining that Fresh Pond is the one place on Shelter Island where the groundwater health can be seen at the surface.

How you can support Fresh Pond restoration

As you may know, Fresh Pond is the Island’s largest freshwater body. Or as the Neighbors Association describes it: the largest exposed portion of Shelter Island’s aquifer.

Accessible to the public from Fresh Pond Road, this 15-acre glacial lake is a rich ecosystem and recreational resource. But as elsewhere, contaminants from septic systems, stormwater run-off, and waterfowl have accumulated in bottom sediments, creating ideal conditions for summer algal blooms.

The association is working with the Town on a solution that involves circulating water from the depths through a machine that will remove excess phosphorous. (There will be a presentation when the association applies for grant funding.)

You may wonder why all the nearby property owners aren’t immediately swapping out aging septics for I/A systems. Given the excess phosphorous, reducing the nitrogen now could make things worse.

Meantime, the neighbor’s group hopes to raise $10,000 annually for a yearly professional clean-up to remove decaying plants and algae blooms from pond access areas.

“Our goal is to keep the pond safe and beautiful for Shelter Islanders and visitors to enjoy,” the association says.

You can support this effort by donating to the Fresh Pond Neighbors Association using this link to the group’s website.

Or, send a check payable to Fresh Pond Neighbors Association to PO Box 70, Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965.

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