Letter: Town’s Breach of Dam at Gull Pond Threatens Wetlands Ecosystem

The following letter was sent to the Amherst Conservation Commission on September 8, 2025.

For the past 15 years I have lived on Crossbrook Avenue in Amherst, two houses from Gull Pond. I am very concerned about recent actions taken by the Conservation Department to breach the beaver dam at Gull Pond and engage in subsequent work which has resulted in a dramatic and rapid drop in the pond’s water level by several feet, completely draining the wetlands pool behind my home. I plan to attend the upcoming Conservation Commission meeting, scheduled for September 10, to express my concern and advocate for better management practices for Gull Pond going forward.  I am providing these written comments to you in advance of the meeting.   

Background
I think it is helpful to start with a bit of background about Gull Pond and the history of the town’s control of the water levels at the pond since I have lived there.

• Gull Pond is a small pond, much loved by area residents who walk its banks daily, fish from shore in warm weather and skate on the pond in winter.  The pond supports an abundance of wildlife including birds such as herons, kingfishers, wood ducks, and red-winged black birds, painted and snapping turtles, beavers, muskrats and sometimes river otters, green, leopard, and bull frogs, and fish such as sunfish, pickerel, and bass, to name just a few.   The pond is also a migratory resting place for birds such as mergansers and buffleheads, and I have seen the occasional osprey catch fish from the pond. There is a beaver dam at the culvert where water from the pond flows under Crossbrook and some years ago the town installed a beaver deceiver at this dam.

• Gull Pond is quite shallow and on three occasions during the time I have lived here, the town has quickly and dramatically lowered pond water levels, as well as draining the small wetlands area behind my house, to the serious detriment of the pond ecosystem.  The most recent of these dewatering events occurred two weeks ago, on August 29.  On the prior two occasions when the pond level was dramatically lowered, the reason given by town officials was an imminent threat to the town’s wastewater treatment facility.  However, elevated pond water levels no longer pose a threat to the town’s wastewater treatment facility since several years ago, DPW cemented off a culvert behind my house that had allowed pond water to flow into an underground stormwater pipe when pond water levels were high.
  
• Events this Summer.  Gull Pond water levels rose over this past summer as the volume of water passing through the beaver deceiver pipe at Crossbrook slowed.  The higher water level was very good for the pond’s ecosystem and the pond looked healthier this summer than it has in many years.  However, a resident of my community called the town a few weeks ago concerned about the high water levels, following which the Conservation Department determined that the beaver deceiver needed to be repaired.  The town’s actions in response to this situation resulted in another dramatic and very detrimental lowering of the pond’s water level which was not necessary and could have been avoided.  Below is a summary of these events.
  
• My neighbor had called the Town DPW and Conservation Department expressing concern that pond water might clog her home’s foundation drains and flood her basement.  However, she lives five houses from the pond and pond water was not near her home.  In addition, Beth Wilson at DPW has told our association that the town connected all foundation drains along Crossbrook to an underground stormwater drain when it was installed by the town decades ago, so it is not possible for pond water to clog the foundation drains of any of the homes along Crossbrook.   

• I called the Conservation Department to alert them to the fact that there was no threat of flooding from the pond and was assured this information would be passed on to the land management team.  (Please note here that my neighbor’s concern could be addressed by the town installing a gauge to monitor pond water levels and keeping track of those levels, which to my knowledge has never been done.)

• The town’s contractor then inspected the beaver deceiver and determined that the cage to the entrance pipe of the deceiver should be replaced.   

• A few days later, apparently based on my neighbor’s call, employees from the Conservation Department breached the beaver dam at Crossbrook and water began pouring out of the pond.  I begged the workers to stop their actions, as it would drain the pond during a drought.  They said they had been instructed to breach the dam because pond water was threatening to flood roads and residences, but I assured them this was not the case and walked them through the area so they could see this for themselves.    
  
• That same morning, Barbara Finlayson (our association president) and I (who am on the board) travelled to Town Hall to speak with the Conservation Department’s land manager to express concern about the breach of the beaver dam and any other dramatic lowering of the pond’s water level, but he was not there.  We were told to call him, which I did and left a message, but he never returned my call.  I also tried unsuccessfully to reach Dave Ziomeck.      
  
• To my knowledge, no one in position of authority at the Town Conservation Department ever visited Gull Pond to inspect the situation for themselves or attempt to verify concerns about flooding from high water levels before ordering  a breach of the beaver dam or authorizing the work that was done to the beaver deceiver.   

• On Friday, August 29, work was done to the beaver deceiver near Crossbrook.  As we feared, this work resulted in huge amounts of water suddenly pouring out of the pond, lowering the water level of the entire pond by several feet and completely draining the wetlands area behind my house where bullfrogs and green frogs had been calling all summer.  We had tried to prevent this happening, as the dramatic lowering of pond water levels is very bad for the pond and her ecosystem. This is especially true since the loss of water occurred during a long dry spell and in early fall, when pond vegetation will soon die off, further depleting pond oxygen levels which are already low in such a shallow pond.  If we have a harsh winter, we may see a fish die off as a result of the town’s actions.

• I asked to see the permits that were issued for breaching the beaver dam and for dramatically lowering Gull Pond’s water levels as I don’t understand what the justification could be for the damage that has been done to the pond.  I did not receive a response to this request.   

Requested Action to Address
I strongly urge the Conservation Commission to facilitate putting in place a proper management plan for Gull Pond.  The plan should allow water levels to rise and be maintained at a higher level than the current depleted level for at least five years so that the pond can recover from recent Town actions. The plan should also include adequate monitoring of water levels,  including installation and monitoring of a gauge to assuage resident concerns about flooding. Such a plan would mitigate against ad hoc decision making in the future, based on misinformation and without proper followup.

Conclusion
In closing, I want to advocate for the vital importance of protecting small ecosystems like Gull Pond. Children who grow up with access to places like Gull Pond where they can observe and interact with pond creatures up close, will grow up to be adults who love the natural world and want to protect it. And example of this is my son, who, from the age of 10, grew up teaching himself to fish at Gull Pond. In 2015, as a sophomore in high school, he wrote a letter to the town in support of its purchase of Gull Pond (attached). This spring he completed his masters degree in fisheries conservation at UMass Amherst and is currently looking for a job as a freshwater fisheries biologist.

I urge commissioners to do all that you can to protect Gull Pond and places like it for the benefit of all of us.

Sarah Matthews

Sarah Matthews is a resident of Amherst and a co-founder of Western Mass Rights of Nature

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February 24, 2015

To the Town of Amherst Community Preservation Act Committee

I have been regularly fishing Gull Pond for going on 6 years. During this time I, along with my mother, have witnessed and experienced many things about this pond that I believe demonstrate the true value of this body of water to not only the ecosystem that it is a part of, but to the community of people who live in its vicinity.

First of all, Gull Pond has an astounding fish population for its size, consisting mainly of Largemouth Bass and pan fish such as Bluegill and Pumpkinseed. I have personally caught and released well over 100 keeper-sized Largemouth Bass from Gull Pond, including multiple fish upwards of 5 lbs. While I don’t fish for them as much, the pan fish population is also extraordinarily high, and provides a great source of forage for the Bass. The only other species of fish that I know to inhabit Gull Pond are Chain Pickerel, however they seem to be few in number. 

Apart from fish, my mother and I have witnessed an abundance of other creatures who regularly use Gull Pond. Frogs, including Green Frogs, Bullfrogs, Leopard Frogs, Grey Tree Frogs and Spring Peepers all use Gull Pond for their reproduction each year. Turtles too, such as Painted Turtles, Snapping Turtles and Spotted Turtles live in Gull Pond. A year ago, my mother and I found a Snapping Turtle nest right on the edge of the pond and witnessed a dozen or more newborn turtles emerge from their underground nest and crawl into the water. 

In addition to amphibians and reptiles, a number of other types of animals live in and around Gull Pond. Birds such as King Fishers, Green and Great Blue Herons, and Red- winged Blackbirds (among others) are frequently seen at Gull Pond. On two special occasions, my mother and I witnessed a Bald Eagle land on a tree near the water’s edge as well as an Osprey, who majestically dove from high in the sky into Gull Pond in order to catch a fish. There are also at least 2 resident River Otters that use the pond mainly in the spring months, and a whole host of Beavers that call Gull Pond home. 

Hopefully by sharing what I have seen the past 6 years I have given you some insight into this pond so you can see that it is much, much more than a small little puddle on the side of the road. Gull Pond is a thriving eco system that is very well-deserving of preservation by the Town of Amherst.

Julian Burgoff
Sophomore, ARHS