Indian Lake History and Issues
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The Mill Brook subwatershed and the Blackstone River Headwaters have been
identified by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
as key priority areas to improve water quality within the Blackstone River.
The Blackstone River has been designated as a National and American Heritage
River by the National Park Service. The Blackstone River Valley National
Heritage Corridor was designated by an Act of Congress on November 10,
1986 to preserve and interpret for present and future generations the
unique and significant value of the Blackstone Valley. In August 1998,
President Clinton declared the Blackstone River an "American Heritage
River". The National Park Service, two state governments, dozens
of local municipalities, businesses, nonprofit historical and environmental
organizations, educational institutions, many private citizens, and a
unifying commission all work together in partnerships to protect the Valley's
special identity and prepare for its future.
Indian Lake is the largest body of water located completely within the City of Worcester, Massachusetts (population of 170,000+). The 193-acre Lake with a mean depth of approximately 10 feet offers many family activities including two public swimming beaches, picnic and recreation areas, a public boat launch and a tennis court. Indian Lake originally encompassed 40 acres and was surrounded by marshes and farmland. In the late 1820's during the industrial era, the Blackstone Canal was built to create a new transportation link between Worcester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. The Mill Brook was dammed at Indian Lake to form the headwaters of the Blackstone Canal and Blackstone River to control the flow of water through the canal. In the late 1840's the Lake was used to harvest ice for local businesses. The Upper Mill Brook Watershed area is approximately 15 square miles and extends northerly into Holden. The main outlet from Indian Lake flows through a gated valve in a southerly direction into Salisbury Pond and eventually into the Blackstone River. The watershed area is heavily urbanized and the major tributary entering into the Lake is Ararat Brook entering at the northwest corner of the Lake.
Over the past 50 years, development within the watershed has increased dramatically which has caused increased water quality problems at Indian Lake and its tributaries and inlets. This development has attributed to rapid sedimentation from both upstream development and urban runoff. High phosphorous loading has also led to eutrophication and has resulted in severe impairment of water quality, primarily in the form of low dissolved oxygen, nuisance aquatic plants, turbidity and organic enrichment. This has been documented in numerous studies and routine water quality monitoring conducted by the Indian Lake Watershed Association (ILWA) through the Blackstone Headwater Monitoring Team (BHMT) Program and by the City Department of Public Health (DPH).
Existing conditions have substantially reduced the recreational potential of the Indian Lake. In 1978 the Indian Lake Improvement Association was formed and in 1985, the ILWA was incorporated as a non-profit 501(3c). The organization began as a group of concerned residents who wanted to monitor and revive the water body and has grown to be one of the strongest neighborhood groups in the City of Worcester, working in cooperation with both city officials and residents to combat the effects of development within the watershed. The ILWA now maintains a membership of 300+ members.
The ILWA has completed many major tasks to protect and restore the quality of the Lake in the recent years. These tasks include: sewered homes along Indian Lake, dredged a portion of Indian Lake; lobbied against major land taking for construction of Rte 190, lobbied City to repair sewer pumping station on Holden Street, periodic treatment of Indian Lake with chemicals to control weeds; construction of Morgan Park; completion of diagnostic feasibility studies of both lakes; coordination of the stenciling of almost 1,500 storm drains, which ultimately discharge into the waterbodies; gained support from the City for an annual drawdown of Indian Lake to combat weed growth; successfully lobbied City to pave a local roadway and long stretch of sidewalk that washed sediment into Indian Lake during rain events; worked with the City to repair a failing septic system at Shore Park, located on Indian Lake, coordinated funding weed control of 80% of Indian Lake to control weed and algae growth, and continuously identify and repair numerous illicit sanitary/storm sewer connections entering Salisbury Pond. The ILWA meets several times per year to discuss on-going issues and projects. The ILWA also keeps its membership of 300+ informed of important events through the distribution of a semi-annual newsletter and provides important event, project status and educational information.
Several sources have confirmed the severe water quality impairment problem that is present within the Lake:
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A 1976 Indian Lake Water Quality study by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering Division of Water Pollution Control identified nuisance aquatic plant adversely impacting recreational activities and high phosphorous and nitrogen levels.
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A 1982 Eutriphication and Feasibility Study for Indian Lake by Tighe & Bond. Inc. and Lycott Environmental identified major phosphorous loading from the Ararat Brook (50% of total loading) and Kiver Pond (Rt 122) (13% of total loading) tributary inlets. This report identified a total phosphorous input of 4479 kg/yr in 1981 with an outflow of 198 kg/yr giving retention of 95% of the total phosphorous loading kept in the Lake.
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The 1989 D/F study noted that the impaired water quality is due mainly to storm water runoff of total phosphorous from the Lake's urban watershed.
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The 1998 303d list also identifies Indian Lake as an impaired water body based on the nuisance aquatic plants, organic enrichment and low dissolved oxygen.
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The recently completed Draft 2001 TMDL also confirmed the high phosphorous and sediment loading and is states the Lake is experiencing nuisance algae blooms with associated high turbidity and low dissolved oxygen. According to the TMDL study the most recent total phosphorous inputs were estimated at 524 kg/yr and the TMDL set a target load allocation of 298 kg/yr (0.86 kg/day) with a secchi disk reading depth target of 1.8 meters.
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Routine biweekly bacterial testing by the Worcester Department of Public Health has also identified elevated levels of bacteria.
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Monthly water quality monitoring conducted by the ILWA through the Blackstone Headwater Monitoring Program for the last 4 years has reported elevated concentrations of phosphorous and nitrogen and low levels of dissolved oxygen.
At present, the Lake does not currently meet Federal water quality standards and is listed on the Massachusetts 303d list of impaired water bodies for nuisance aquatic plants, organic enrichment and low dissolved oxygen. As a direct result of water quality degradation, there has been a loss of recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat at the Lake.
In the spring of 2002, the ILWA joined forces with the Mill Brook Task Force (MBTF) to complete one of the first Massachusetts Department of Fish & Wildlife Riverways Lake Watershed Stewardship Programs of the entire 15 square mile Upper Mill Brook sub-watershed to Salisbury Pond and Indian Lake in Worcester, Massachusetts. Key issues were noted, summarized, and presented to city and state officials and an action plan to address these issues was created as part of our lake management program. During this survey, several areas were identified as potential pollutant source to Indian Lake. These areas will be monitored for water quality by volunteers through this project.
This existing information indicates that any long-term solution to restoring
the Lake must start with reducing the sediment, phosphorous, and other
contaminant loading to the Lake. The implementation of the tasks identified
in our recently awarded 319-grant proposal seeks to achieve this loading
reduction through the design and installation of a series of stormwater
Best Management Practices (BMPs).
MADEP 319 Non-Point Source Project Goals
In the summer of 2002 the ILWA was awarded a $250,000+ DEP 319 Non-Point
Source grant to implement controls to reduce nutrient and sediment input
into Indian Lake. This project is part of an overall comprehensive resource
restoration effort to improve water quality and recreational opportunities
to Indian Lake and the surrounding watershed by reducing urban stormwater
runoff contamination, sedimentation and nutrient input into the Lake and
its tributaries. Through this grant we will implement the following specific
tasks to greatly reduce the contaminant loading to the Lake:
· Provide water quality monitoring and assessments to determine
the pre-construction baseline water quality and the post-construction
effectiveness of the Best Management Practices (BMPs).
· Design and install a series of structural BMPs in order to prevent
contaminants from entering the Lake at locations upstream of the Lake's
main inlet from Ararat Brook/Bonnie Brook and in smaller sub-watersheds
and tributaries, including Kiver Pond, Huntington Avenue and Sherborn
Avenue, that have been identified as significant sources of contaminant
loading.
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Accomplish minor repairs to the dam impounding the Lake.
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Monitor and maintain BMPs.
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Implement long-term weed control program through innovative weed replacement program.
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Provide educational outreach and technology transfer to the public.
The goal of implementing this grant is to substantially reduce the loading of sediment, phosphorus and other contaminants from entering Indian Lake. According to the 2001 TMDL, the goal for the Lake is to remove approximately 60% of the total phosphorous inputs into the Lake in order to achieve Class B water. The implementation of watershed BMPs will be designed to effectively remove phosphorous and sediment loading which will in turn control macrophyte nuisance algae growth and restore the Lake for primary and secondary contact recreation. Future projects may look to remove (dredge) accumulated sediments from the Lake, and improve public recreational opportunities.
Components of this project are supported in the Massachusetts Executive
Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) Blackstone River Watershed Work
Plan for FY 2001 under Local Capacity Building: "Support and participate
in a NGO/DEP task force for Mill Brook". Also one of the Priority
Projects in the Blackstone 5-year Action Plan is water quality monitoring
and to train, fund and coordinate a Strategic Volunteer Monitoring Group.
The ILWA will work closely as an integral part of the monitoring group.
This proposal also addresses recommendations from the Massachusetts Nonpoint
Source Management Plan, Volume IV the NPS Action Strategies through the
monitoring of structural BMPs addressing stormwater phosphorous input
to the Lake and education outreach about non-point source pollution within
the watershed.
We have established a great collaboration of more than 10 partners for
the overall Indian Lake Watershed Resource Restoration Project. The ILWA
has been working consistently and diligently for over 20 years to restore
and protect the environmental quality of Indian Lake and waterbodies in
the Mill Brook watershed. Other major tasks initiated and managed by the
ILWA include: dredged a portion of Indian Lake; periodic treatment of
the lake with chemicals to control weeds; construction of Morgan Park;
completion of diagnostic feasibility studies; coordination of the stenciling
of almost 1,500 storm drains, which discharge into the lakes and streams
of the watershed; gained support from the City for an annual drawdown
of Indian Lake to combat weed growth and successfully lobbied the city
administration to pave a local roadway and long stretch of sidewalk that
washed sediment into the lake during rain events. The ILWA board meets
publicly monthly to discuss on-going issues and projects and keeps its
membership of 300+ informed of important events, project status and educates
on water quality issues through the distribution of a semi-annual newsletter.
The Armenian Church owns the property where Kiver Pond is located. Realizing that there is a problem with the health of this waterbody, a representative contacted the ILWA through the City of Worcester DPW. The DPW is the administering organization of the MADEP 319 and longtime partner of the ILWA. Other City and State Departments including DPH, MADEP and EOEA have partnered to provide financial and technical assistance to ILWA with the restoration project. There has been a strong commitment from the Federal, State and City government to restore the water quality within the Blackstone River Watershed. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is one of three colleges and/or universities within the Upper Mill Brook Watershed, provides educational aspects and several students have completed comprehensive resource restoration evaluations within the Mill Brook Watershed. Jolin Paving & Excavating, a local construction company and long time supporter of the ILWA will donate construction equipment and some labor for the project. Massachusetts Audubon Society, Blackstone Headwaters Coalition, Regional Environmental Council all assist with educational outreach and education through their many environmental based programs. Several area businesses including Tighe & Bond Engineers, Morgan Construction and Norton/Saint Gobain Company have provided both financial and volunteer assistance as well.
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