Harvest time, and some locals are sour

Neighbors say growers' practices degrade ponds

Crimson bogs during the annual cranberry harvest mark the beginning of autumn. (The Boston Globe/File)

Broad carpets of deep red berries, bobbing on top of flooded bogs, signal fall for residents and tourists alike in Southeastern Massachusetts.

And that time is almost here again, as cranberry growers prepare for harvest during the next few weeks, and tourists look forward to harvest celebrations.

But for homeowners along some ponds that supply water used in harvest, that picturesque seasonal scene can elicit a far different response.

Such is the case in West Wareham, where the Blackmore Pond Homeowners Association is concerned about the after-effects of harvest at the Eagle Holt bogs, which lie along their waterway and draw on it during harvest and in the winter.

The debate over Blackmore Pond is an example - and since last fall, perhaps the most contentious - of the conflict that can develop between bog owners and the people who live on the shores of nearby ponds: The grower values the success of the crop, while the shore dweller treasures his pristine lake waters.

The homeowners association says that when water is flushed from the bog back into their lake, it's laden with phosphorus from bog fertilizer. Phosphorus promotes the growth of algae, which, as it decomposes, can drain large amounts of oxygen and degrade water quality.

"Every drop that comes in from the bog is polluted," said Barry Cosgrove, a member of the association's board of directors.

Cosgrove complains that bog owners, viewed as struggling farmers, are given too much latitude. "Name another business that gets a resource like water for free, pays one-seventh the property taxes that homeowners do, and pollutes the water and gets away with it," Cosgrove said.

Carolyn DeMoranville, executive director of the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station in Wareham, said the problem between bog owner and homeowner reflects the increased intensity of land use in recent decades.

The 35-acre Blackmore Pond has supplied water for the bog for 80 years, based on a license granted by the state for the pond's use in 1930. "They co-existed well when there were only a few summer cottages on the ponds," DeMoranville said. "But the agricultural use has become far more intensive and the population more dense around the ponds."

DeMoranville said the algae problem results from a combination of the phosphorus from the bogs and nitrogen from septic systems. "It's not just one land use, so all land uses have to be looked at," she said.

The Cranberry Station's scientists were involved in a study on how the bog affects the pond, from 2002 to 2004. It was funded by the state Department of Environmental Protection, and prompted some changes.

"The grower at Eagle Holt implemented a fertilizer-reduction plan he used since 2003," DeMoranville said of Doug Beaton and his son Matt, who own the bog. "Since then, it's kept the phosphorus levels lower. That's not to say there aren't some little pockets of algae in that pond, but there hasn't been a full pond algae bloom that I know of."

Matt Beaton said that his bog has reduced phosphorus outflows into Blackmore Pond by 80 percent since 2003, and that other methods of protecting the pond are being explored. He added that with "125 acres of bog on 500 acres of land, we preserve a lot of open space."

Members of the homeowners association, however, contend that phosphorus counts went down for a single cycle during the study and then returned to higher numbers. "They are 20 times higher when the water comes back to the pond from the bog," Cosgrove said.

"You'd be better off living next to a sewer-treatment plant than a bog," Cosgrove said. "It's more regulated."

Jim Murphy, a former cranberry grower himself, is president of the Blackmore Pond Homeowners Association. "Longtime residents will tell you the clarity of the pond has decreased," Murphy said. He and fellow association member John Steward now test the water quality themselves.

"Nature is fairly resilient, and it tries to compensate," Steward said. "But at some point, it gives up."

The association purchased $10,000 in equipment last spring. Members began regularly testing the pond, at its deepest point, in May. The samples are analyzed by a private lab, Steward said, and the results are being charted by the association.

"In September, we'll start seeing the detrimental effects of the harvesting in the samples," Steward predicted.

DeMoranville said the relationship between the bog owner and the pond association became combative last fall, when Eagle Holt was given a waiver to draw more water than its permit allows, during harvest, following a dry summer.

The homeowners association blames that draw for a severe drop in the pond's water level. Large sections along the pond's perimeter, previously underwater, lay exposed. "There were dead fish, dead snails, and dead mussels," Cosgrove said.

The association recently contacted Jim Sullivan, president of the White Island Pond Conservation Association. That pond spans the Plymouth-Wareham town line. State health officials closed the pond to swimming and other recreational uses in May due to excessive algae blooms. No one denies that White Island Pond is in trouble; it's on the state's formal list of impaired water bodies.

"When they flood the bogs to harvest in mid-September and then release the water, the entire lake will turn green," said Sullivan, who has done his own water testing for three years. "We've been fighting this for 40 years."

Currently state environmental officials are working with two nearby bog owners, A.D. Makepeace and Federal Furnace Cranberry Co., to resolve the situation, said Sullivan, who believes progress is being made.

In Halifax, meanwhile, West Monponsett Pond was closed to recreational use in mid-summer, due to excessive algae blooms. That water is used by the Morse Bros. bog. DeMoranville said her agency is working with Morse Bros. on another one of its sites to improve its fertilizing practices.

At Blackmore Pond, association members are encouraged by recent discussions with David Johnston, acting regional director for the state DEP. Johnston agrees with DeMoranville, saying water quality in the pond is currently good.

Johnston said his agency is in discussion with the Beatons. "We're looking at what the grower can do to reduce reliance on Blackmore Pond," Johnston said. That may involve expanding some existing reservoirs on the property. He expects adjustments to Eagle Holt's license as soon as this fall.

"Sometimes it depends on your point of view," DeMoranville said of the debate between growers and homeowners. "One is water should be free of everything. The other is we believe in shared land use, so long as we maintain a standard to keep the water healthy."

Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com.