The Waterford residential development, both planned and already underway, is situated in close proximity to wetlands of various types. The development team, in presenting their plans to the Manchester Conservation Commission and Manchester Planning Board consistently brought out that: a. they felt that the proximity of the wetlands would serve as a "selling point" for their apartments and homes; and b. that their plans would in no way adversely affect the wetlands areas. Buffer zones, homeowner covenants and a pre-construction site "biological study" were used by the team to make a case for their viewpoint.
The information they presented, however, did not include any mention of a major threat to the wetlands, namely the likelihood that growth of the highly invasive plant, Phragmites, would be encouraged by the development, and that, in time, this growth would threaten and even possibly supplant the existing vegetation and drastically change the appearance of the wetlands.
Construction of parts of the project are well underway, and already there is definitive evidence, in a very easily observed location, that these fears are highly likely to materialize.
At the present time, botanists
concerned with the protection of native wetlands are very worried
about the behavior of this plant. It is a non-native species and
proliferates in wetlands to the point where it "crowds out"
specialized plant species. It's growth is greatly encouraged wherever
there are "disturbed" conditions, that is, development of one sort or
another, has changed the landscape so that Phragmites can gain a
foothold, and once colonies have established themselves, proliferate
in a weed-like fashion.
The photograph shown here is a picture of the beginning of construction activities associated with Waterford's single family homes community - Woodland Ponds. Hillcrest Terrace, a retirement community can be seen in the background. An entrance to the development from Countryside Boulevard is underway and it is clear that a highly "disturbed" area has been created. Importantly, at this time there was no protective silt fence to block the movement of materials into the adjacent wetlands.
As a consequence of this lack of concern, Phragmites growth was encouraged and as the development proceeded and homes were built, the colony began to extend northward and began to outcompete cattails located in the unspecialized wetlands. Although most phragmites growth occurs from underground rhizoids that extend outwards from the plant, seed bearing fronds are also produced by the plant. Seeds could be easily transported away from the area by wind or animals, and unfortunately they could easily reach the "headwaters" of the specialized swamps on the opposite side of Countryside Boulevard. The Phragmites colony as it appeared in a subsequent growing season is shown below.
CANARY REED GRASS - ANOTHER INVASIVE SPECIES
As the first "community" construction was underway, Waterford turned its attention to the opposite side of Countryside Boulevard and began land clearing and road construction on the highly controversial "Lot 17" - a lot within the watershed of the specialized swamps in TNC's Manchester Cedar Swamps Preserve. Once again, a lack of concern was shown for protecting the wetlands found here from construction activities.
Near the end of the summer of 2004, more evidence of Waterford's poor erosion control methods were observed, as well as an indication of the consequences of this behavior. In the photograph shown below left, a silt fence is seen to the left of rubble and run-off that is alongside a main road into the property. (The view is looking south from Countryside Boulevard.) Most parts of the silt fence are nearly brimming over with debris-containing water and in some places an overflow of the fence has occurred. (This situation worsened considerably on subsequent rainy days.)
Importantly, within 10-15 feet of the area "protected" by the silt fence, a patch of an invasive plant form was visible. As shown in the photograph of this area (below) the patch is thriving and developing seed-containing tassels. The plant, a phragmites "look-alike" has been identified as "canary reed grass." - a non-native invasive plant. The pink tie on the tree indicates the proximity of a wetland area which contains (seasonally) running water that leads into a giant rhododendron swamp.
Methods for the eradication of invasive species are rigorous and time-consuming. It appears doubtful that a development company whose activities have encouraged the growth of these species will be inclined to pursue these methods. As the invasive plants continue to propagate, if development activities provide the opportunity, the plants will proliferate widely.