The changes that have occurred during the past six months along the lower reaches of the Tiasquam River where it flows into Tisbury Great Pond ought to provide a reassuring vista for Island residents who question what might replace the attractive West Tisbury manmade mud puddle known as Mill Pond, if its dam, a relic of an industrial age when commercial concerns trumped the environment, were to be removed.
Last spring, Eric and Molly Glasgow, the environmentally conscious owners of the Grey Barn and Farm off South Road in Chilmark, agreed to remove the boards from a spillway in an earthen dam that has blocked that section of the Tiasquam for more than half a century on farm property they lease from The Trustees of Reservations, a private conservation organization with holdings across Massachusetts.
They did so at the request of West Tisbury herring warden Johnny Hoy, who, when he is not fishing, or building with stones and brick, or rousing people to dance at any one of numerous Island venues where his band performs, quietly and without fanfare does his best to improve our environment, one herring at a time.
The dam on the Glasgow farm was originally constructed to create a small farm pond for the purpose of watering farm animals, and was no longer needed or wanted. But the boards could not simply be pulled out.
The Trustees of Reservations, the state Division of Marine Fisheries, and the West Tisbury Conservation Commission had to be consulted, and lent their enthusiastic support, and more important, gave their approval.
Once the farm pond drained and disappeared, the Tiasquam took over where man left off, regaining its natural memory as the long-lost streambed reappeared.
This week in The Times, naturalist Matt Pelikan eloquently describes the natural process the removal of the boards set in motion (“A dam removed, the Tiasquam begins to heal”): “Within days, the first shoots of grass and sedge seedlings had emerged from the fertile muck. With no impoundment blunting its energy, the Tiasquam rediscovered its old channel over the next two weeks, scouring through a few inches of sediment down to clean sand and gravel. By midsummer, the site was more marsh than pond, a mix of dense sedges, lazy backwaters, and briskly flowing stream.”
As photos that accompany the story illustrate, the farm pond has been replaced by a tranquil brook bordered by vegetation. Waterfowl native to the Island have taken a liking to the natural surroundings.
Mr. Pelikan tells us that the day after the boards were removed, hundreds of alewives were moving up the stream above the drained pond until they hit the next obstacle upstream, the dam at Look’s Pond. Plans are now afoot to find a way to give the herring a lift over that formidable structure by means of a fish ladder.
West Tisbury is currently engaged in a study of the Mill Brook watershed that should provide more information on the connectivity of the entire network of small brooks, streams, and ponds.
At some point in the future, town leaders are expected to once again ask voters whether they wish to spend a considerable amount of money to dredge the muck from Mill Pond. Proponents argue that the pond is an iconic image that must be preserved. They point to the fish ladder now in place, a small measure that fisheries experts say may mitigate the effects of a dam, but is no substitute for free passage.
There is no question Mill Pond is a pretty piece of scenery, if one is willing to ignore the fact that it belongs there as much as the graceful mute swans that glide over its surface, the offspring of an introduced species from England that can be damaging to our waterways and displace native waterfowl. Across New England, towns with less self-reverence for their environmental sensitivity than West Tisbury have embraced the effort to free waterways of useless dams, and restore the health of their waterways, to positive results.
The restoration of a small stretch of the Tiasquam is a very small victory in a larger battle being waged by environmental coalitions across the country to rid our waterways of those dams, which on balance do more harm than good. It is an effort that deserves our support in our own backyard.
Not long ago, a West Tisbury resident, in a Letter to the Editor, said it was “unrealistic” to assume a restored Mill Brook could ever provide a more fitting subject for poets, artists, and photographers than Mill Pond. The changes now occurring off South Road along the Tiasquam illustrate the power of nature to surpass the beauty of anything fashioned by man.
