The nicest entryway into ECWA's 82 acre nature preserve at the Glennstone development is next to one of the sediment ponds that catches and temperarily holds runoff from the houses and streets. The developer, Craig Morrison, built a nice shelter there with sidewalk and plantings,
overlooking what i
n 2008 and through to last year was a healthy pond with cattails, soft rush and lots of pickerel weed that blooms all summer.
It was surprising, then, to return this year to find most of the cattails and other vegetation dead, and the view from the pergola quickly being obscured by fast growing willows.
What could have caused the dieoff? Are a lot of herbicides washing off nearby yards?
First thing I noticed was the ring of dead grass around the pond,
and the pickerel weed is doing fine along the edge. What's likely happening is that the drain in the back of this photo is blocked. Storm runoff is supposed to collect in the basin, then slowly drain down until the water is shallow again. If the drain gets blocked, water will remain high for too long, the grass along the edge of the pond will die, and even cattails will drown.
The detention basin likely needs some maintenance to free the drain of debris. Interesting to see that the cattail is killed by high water, because its tendency to take a pond over completely may make future flooding a good option for reestablishing some room for other aquatic plant species to grow.
