Some of the plants on the floor of the pond are growing all the way up to the surface.
Children participate in a fishing derby at Dufresne Park in Granby.GRANBY – What would Dufresne Park be without its pond?
The Conservation Commission in Granby doesn’t want to find out, and it’s taking the initial steps to make sure the little oasis stays around for a long time.
Members are worried that vegetation in and around the water is so dense that, left to its own devices, nature would eventually fill up the pond and turn it into something else.
Some of the plants on the floor of the pond are growing all the way up to the surface, said William Shaheen, chair of the Conservation Commission.
Eventually the scum on top “forms a mat of decaying plant matter, and every year it goes up and up and up until you don’t have any pond left. It would turn into a wetlands,” said Shaheen.
The pond is not used for swimming, but there are many other reasons why Granby residents care about it. For example, it’s the site of a “fishing derby” during the town’s “Charter Days” festival in June.
Also, said Shaheen, Dufresne Park is rented out for private occasions, and not having a pond there would lessen the desirability of the place.
“It’s a very well-kept park,” said Town Administrator Christopher Martin.
The town will eventually dredge the pond to clear out the vegetation, but not anytime soon. “We have to do a lot of research to see what’s going on,” said Conservation Commission member Patricia Kasulinous.
“We have to get permits first,” said Shaheen, “and find out what engineering and surveying and chemical tests are necessary.”
June Hart, a graduate student in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, is helping the Conservation Commission work on the project this summer.
“She’s doing administrative work,” said Shaheen, “finding out what permits are needed from the Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers.”
Once the lengthy preliminaries are done, the draining and re-filling process only takes a few weeks, said Shaheen.
Dufresne Recreation and Conservation Area is off Route 202 between Taylor and Kendall Streets in Granby. It’s open 7 a.m. to dusk. Admission is free. For more information, call (413) 467-7177.