Norton Plans to Deal With Ponds' Problems

Dave Lennon, the chairman of the Norton Water Bodies Commission and chair of the conversation commission Dave Henry presented selectmen with a tentative plan for getting invasive species under control.

The two discussed the problems in Norton’s water bodies. The five ponds and lakes in Norton are contaminated with weeds that choke the oxygen levels in the water, and kill other plant life as well as fish.

Selectmen chair Robert Kimball said he agrees something has to be done, but they need a clear plan that can be executed. He said while studies are needed, a plan of action has to follow.

“We need to be more proactive about it and have a proposed plan in place to fund more parts of the project,” he said.

Lennon and Henry agreed, but getting the price isn’t so easy.

“There are different variables for every pond,” Lennon said. “It can be done, but it’s a big task. Our committee doesn’t have technical people with that background, so it’s hard for us to come up with a big watershed action plan.”

The process will be a big one for Norton and take about five years. Kimball said he wants a plan ready to have a town meeting warrant article ready for the spring.

“We have to be very proactive this summer, we know this is not going to happen overnight,” he said. “It’s going to take all winter just to get the permitting done.”

The plan at the moment works on several methods of treatment, including specific herbicides and non substance treatments based on the species in the particular body of water.

Though the invasive plants have been a problem in Norton for years, Kimball stressed the need to act on it before Norton’s ponds become swamps.

“These bodies of water belong to all of us,” he said. “I think we all have an obligations to us and future generations to get this done. It’s coming ot a head and it’s got to start happening. We’ve been pushing this off way too long and our waterways are going to be swamps and marshland unless we take action.”