Little Parkers Pond Restoration

Why is this project being proposed?

The existing conditions in and surrounding Little Parkers Pond have been degraded by a combination of restricted tidal flows, build up of sediment within the pond, and invasive plant species displacing the native plant communities surrounding the pond.

This has led to:

1. Reduced water quality.

2. Increased nitrogen released in to downstream salt marsh and estuary.

3. Loss of benthic habitat and shellfish resources.

4. Loss of quality native plant communities.

5. Loss of the habitat associated with native plant communities.

Brief History

The existing causeway on the east side of the pond was constructed in the 1920s. An eighteen inch clay pipe does hydrologically connect the pond to East Bay but, it greatly restricts the tidal flow, leading to the slow buildup of sediment. The installation of a stormwater outflow at the west end of the pond in the 1970s added to the sediment load. In the past seven decades the area of open water in the pond has become noticeably smaller as the sediment has accumulated and vegetation spread into the rising sediment along the edges of the pond. The aerial images below depicts the loss of open water between 1938 and 2014.

Goals of the project

• Improve the tidal circulation between Little Parkers Pond and East Bay.

• Improve the water quality in Little Parkers Pond.

• Restore the natural water depths to the salt pond.

• Restore the salt pond’s natural benthic and aquatic vegetation communities

• Increase the quantity and quality of the natural plant communities surrounding Little Parkers Pond, which will in turn increase and restore the habitat value for wildlife.

• Increase the levels of nitrogen uptake and/or fixation by the improved native plant communities.

• Collaborate with the Town of Barnstable to address the stormwater runoff and sedimentation.

Salt Pond Restoration

Project Time Line

• Site preparation and dredging are expected to begin during the winter of 2019.

• Stabilization of the shoreline and restoration planting are expected to begin during the spring of 2020.