Bare Hill Pond is one of Harvard’s most distinctive natural features, a town center gem loved by residents who turn to it for recreation and relaxation. Its loss would be devastating to swimmers, boaters, and fishermen, as well as to the native ecosystems it supports.
Like other town resources, the health of the pond is threatened by rising global temperatures, but our changing climate is only one of several pressures that will influence its future. As our page 1 story makes clear, past agricultural practices and present homeowner activity are ongoing risks as well, but those are also more amenable to human intervention.
While rising temperatures are likely a fact of life, factors such as the use of phosphorus-laden laundry soap, fertilizer runoff, and poorly maintained waste management systems are not—and can be changed.
There’s more to a successful mitigation strategy than the annual drawdown, and it will take the collective efforts of everyone—the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee, DPW, Parks and Rec, lakeside homeowners, boaters, and beach visitors—to make it work.
