Water Bodies Committee Working to Protect Waters of Norton

One of the most precious resources in the Town of Norton is its bodies of water. These water bodies provide residents with wonderful scenes of wildlife and hours of recreation. There are four water bodies in town. They are:

• Barrowsville Pond- off of Power Street
• Chartley Pond- off of South Worcester Street
• Norton Reservoir- off of Route 140 and Reservoir Street
• Winnecunnet Pond- off of Bay Road

We all know how important it is to take care of our water resources. This past year the Board of Selectman formed a Water Bodies Committee. The Water Bodies Committee is made up of volunteer residents in Norton. The Committee is working to protect and enhance the life of the Town’s Water Bodies in the following ways:

1. Collaborate with The Town’s Conservation Commission and Conservation Office to advance the work already accomplished in protecting the life of the town’s water bodies
2. Educate residents on the importance of protecting the water bodies, the ways they can be protected, and the ways they can be bettered
3. Identify ways to address the challenges that the water bodies face such as invasive plant life, pollutants, and littering
4. Locate potential resources to improve the water bodies using different funding sources such as state grants and/or town funding

The Water Bodies Committee meets on the first and third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. The current activities of the Committee are:

• Creating solutions to address the invasive plant life in Winnecunnet Pond
• Identifying the plant life in the Norton Reservoir especially the invasive plants
• Developing ways to educate residents when they are using the water bodies, especially fishermen, boaters, and kayakers
• Exploring funding sources

From time to time the Water Bodies Committee will be sharing information with the Norton residents through the newspapers, the Town’s Cable station, as well as the Town of Norton’s website www.nortonma.org.  Check out this website within the Conservation Commission tab to learn more about the water bodies themselves. The “Norton Lakes and Ponds” pamphlet is a great read. To learn more about the work of the Water Bodies Committee contact the Conservation Office at 508 285-0275.