FFRE Crushes Invasive Water Chestnut Control on Farm River

This year, between May and August, Friends of the Farm River & Estuary (FFRE) removed or eliminated 90 percent or more of invasive Eurasian Water Chestnut (Trapa Natans, referred below as Trapa) from five locations within the Farm River watershed. Together, neighbors, FFRE volunteers, and supporters volunteered more than 325 hours (the equivalent of over 8 weeks of full time work).

Trapa is a persistent and pernicious invasive aquatic plant. Its thorny “nuts” can remain viable in river and pond bottoms and sprout new plants up to 10 years after they drop. If untended, Trapa spreads rapidly creating dense mats of roots and vegetation transforming previously open water views into views more akin to a cabbage patch. Not only unsightly, but its thick mats also effectively evict the wildlife we love such as ducks, wading birds, fish, frogs and turtles.

These five location are the only locations where Trapa has been observed during recent watershed-wide surveys:

• Page’s Mill Pond (located north of Route 80)

• The Mile of the Farm River below Page’s Pond

• Dean Heath Farm Pond (located a few hundred yards east of the Farm River about a half mile above Page’s Mill Pond)

• Foxon Pond (located behind the Lady of Pompeii Church on Rte. 80 in Foxon

• Vaiuso Farm Irrigation Ditches

• Observed Plants south of Route 1 ( south of where the Farm River passes under Route 1)

“We are grateful for our volunteers, neighbors, and the excellent support work by Isabella Vega, our summer intern, who received a small stipend through a DEEP grant,” said FFRE President Curt Johnson. “We could not have achieved this remarkable milestone of control without the DEEP’s financial support, the Lippincott Family Foundation loan or this great outpouring of community support.” Johnson noted that FFRE must continue removal for at least another five years to truly control this scourge. “Please join FFRE and our family of volunteers. Email us at farmriverfriends@gmail.com to get involved,” Johnson said.

Volunteers removing invasive Eurasian Water Chestnut