Lake Quannapowitt Diagnostic Feasibility Study
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PALIS #93060 LAKE QUANNAPOWITT COM fo) O i I I I I I I I I I LAKE QUANNAPOWITT • DIAGNOSTIC/FEASIBILITY STUDY • Wakefield, Massachusetts FINAL REPORT • July, 1986 i i i i i i i I COM CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC. One Center Plaza environmental engineers, scientists, _ „ .. mmo a , , ', Boston, Massachusetts 02108 I planners, & management consultants ' I y 617 742-5151 I July 24, 1986 I Mr. Richard C. Boutiette, P.E. Director of Public Works Town of Wakefield I 1 Lafayette Street Wakefield, MA 01880 I Dear Mr. Boutiette: Please find 12 copies of the addendum to the Final Diagnostic/Feasibility Study for Lake Quannapowitt. One copy has been sent to the Wakefield I Library. This revision to the Final Report completes the work on our contract with the Town of Wakefield for Phase I of the project, and 10 I copies have been sent to the Clean Lakes Section of DEQE. It has been a pleasure working on the project with the Department of Public Works, and we look forward to continuing our good working I relationship with the Town of Wakefield. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to call. I Sincerely, I CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC I Eileen Pannetier Project Manager I cc: Chris Duerring, DEQE I I I I I I I ADDENDUM TO FINAL REPORT I DIAGNOSTIC/FEASIBILITY STUDY Lake Quannapowitt, Wakefield, Massachusetts I DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, TOWN OF WAKEFIELD I INTRODUCTION The purpose of this addendum is to address the final comments from the Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE) on the Lake I Quannapowitt Phase I Diagnostic/Feasibility Study. These comments were received from the Massachusetts DEQE, Division of Water Pollution Control, I Clean Lakes Section, and may be found at the end of the addendum. The first comment relates to'the preimplementation milestone schedule shown in the final report on Page 2-16 and 2-18. Primarily because of permitting requirements, the schedule is no longer realistic, and should I be replaced with the following schedule which allows for several months permitting time. I REVISED MILESTONE SCHEDULE I Milestone Date Task Responsibility November 1, 1985 Deadline for Draft Final Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. I Phase I Report January 15, 1986 Deadline for Prioriti- Division of Water Pollution I zation Control DWPC May 15, 1986 Deadline for Local Match Town of Wakefield I Commitment May 31, 1986 Deadline for Full Program Town of Wakefield I Requirements Compliance August 1, 1986 Deadline for Revised Final Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. I Report October 1, 1986 Development and Approval Division of Water Pollution I of Substate Agreement Control November 3, 1986 Issue Phase II request for Town of Wakefield Proposals I November 21, 1986 Deadline for Proposals Town of Wakefield December 10, 1987 Selection of Consultant Town of Wakefield I for Final Design I I I Milestone Date Task Responsibility I January 2, 1987 Begin Final Design Consultant I January 2, 1987 Purchase of Weed Harvester Town of Wakefield February 30, 1987 Submit Draft Environmental Consultant Impact Report I March 27, 1987 Submit Remaining Permit Consultant Applications I April - August Weed Harvesting as needed Town of Wakefield August 14, 1987 Pre-bid Conference Consultant I September 1, 1987 Select Contractor Town of Wakefield, Consultant I September 1, 1987 Begin Lake Drawdown Town of Wakefield, i October 15, 1987 Begin Construction Contractor i January 1, 1988 Completion of Construction Contractor It should be noted that the Environmental Impact Report is only required for the dredging/disposal portion of the work, and although it is not desirable from a construction standpoint, the construction of the i phosphorus control berm may be done separately if delays result from permitting constraints on the dredging/disposal portion of the work. i The second comment relates to the environmental evaluation of lake drawdown, which will occur prior to construction to reduce the environmental impacts of the work. Since the Final Report did not i adequately address the impacts of the drawdown on downstream wetlands, water table, and fish populations in the lake, the following revised evaluation of fish and wildlife impacts should replace the one found on i page 2-22 of the report. REVISED SECTION 2.5.4 FISH AND WILDLIFE IMPACTS i Although temporary turbidity is expected to occur during dredging, impacts will be minimized by the late fall construction timing. Impacts from the spoil disposal will be minimized by the filter fabric lining on the berm i and because the lake will not be refilled until the next spring allowing it to stabilize over several months. The drawdown should-minimize construction impacts on water quality by the i reduction in resuspension of dredged materials. Although the total volume i of the lake will also be reduced during the time the lake is drawn down, i I I fish and wildlife impacts are expected to be minimal since drawdown will occur only once during the winter when biological activity is at a minimum, I Some negative effects on fish communities have been reported in the literature, including a reduction in the standing crop of lake whitefish, walleye, northern pike, and Cisco in Cross Lake, Manitoba caused by a I summer drawdown (Gaboury and Ratal as, 1984). However, drawdown is also considered an important tool in fish management, used to increase fish standing crop (Lanz et al., 1964), to shift species composition (Hulsey, 1958), and to enhance spawning of bass and crappie (Richardson, 1975). I While the effect that drawdown in Lake Quannapowitt will have on fish populations is not known, any negative impacts should be minimized by the fact that only minimal drawdown can occur, and the long-term effects of I the water quality improvements associated with the project will be beneficial to fisheries in the lake. I In addition to improvements in water quality and thus fisheries that will result from the project, the drawdown may also reduce shoreline aquatic weed densities. Since the shoreline (littoral zone) has been implicated as a significant source of internal nutrient loading to the open water I (Cooke, et al., 1986), the winter drawdown of Lake Quannapowitt may have positive water quality effecfs~as wefH " I Weed harvest? nj^_u£ejdj^ring^Sj^rjj^^ should not have anyTignifi can't negative environmental effects. "The effect on water quality, however, should be beneficial in that the weeds will no longer I decompose in the lake. REFERENCES SOURCE: Cooke, G. Dennis, Welch, E.B., Peterson, S.A., and I Newroth, P.R. 1986. Lake and Reservoir Restoration. Butterworth I Publishers. I I I I I I I I I wowwnoweoeaMfc of ^/vf&A&czwuMeJfo I WMav S. RUSSELL SYLVA I Commissioner 01581 July 3, 1986 I Ms. Eileen Pannetier Camp Dresser & McKee One Center Plaza I Boston, MA 02108 I Dear Eileen: I have completed my review of the revised Diagnostic/Feasibility Report on Lake Quannapowitt . With the exception of the following two items, all of the I comments on the draft report from this office have been satisfactorily addressed. Page 2-18 The preimplementation milestone schedule appears unrealistic now, con- I sidering that the final report has not yet been approved and that MEPA may require and EIR for a portion of the project. The schedule should be revised to reflect these delays. I suggest allowing at least one I month (from Sept. 1 , 1986) for Subs t ate development and at least two months from that date for weed harvester purchase. The remaining mile- I stone dates should be revised accordingly. Page 2-22 The environmental evaluation of lake drawdown does not adequately address the impact on downstream wetlands, water table, and fish populations in I the lake. Once the above comments have been satisfactorily addressed, the report will be I acceptable to this office as a final product for the project. These revisions can be submitted in the form of an addendum to the final report, if necessary. I Please submit total of ten copies of the revised final report to this office no later than August 1, 1986. If you have any questions concerning the final report please do not hesitate I to call me. I CKfis Duerring I Sanitary Biologis CD/cf cc: R. Boutiette I R. McVoy I B. Haynes I COM CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC. ineers, scientists. One Center Plaza I planners, & management consultants Boston. Massachusetts 02108 I 617742-5151 I May 20, 1986 Mr. Richard C. Boutlette I Director of Public Works One Lafayette Street I Wakefield, MA Dear Mr. Boutiette: I Enclosed are 12 copies of the Final Report for the Lake Quannapowitt Diagnostic/Feasibility Study, as revised with the DEQE Lakes Section comments. Three copies of the report have been delivered to Ms. Chris Duerring at the Division of Water Pollution Control, along with a I tabulation of our response to comments and the locations of revised information. I We have enjoyed working with the Town of Wakefield and look forward to working with the Town again. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call. I Sincerely, I CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC I Eileen Pannetier Project Manager I 13 Enclosures I I I I I I TABLE OF CONTENTS Section No. Title Page No. SUMMARY 1 DIAGNOSTIC STUDY 1-1 1.1 General Description 1-1 1.2 Morphometric Data 1-9 1.3 Nutrient and Hydrologic Budgets 1-9 1.4 One Year Limnological Data 1-27 1.5 In-Lake Data 1-31 1.6 Macrophyton Data 1-32 1.7 Storm Surveys 1-32 1.8 Sediment Analysis 1-41 FEASIBILITY STUDY 2-1 2.1 Alternative Identification and Evaluation 2-1 2.2 Final Alternatives 2-9 2.3 Public Participation 2-16 I 2.4 Scheduling and Monitoring Program 2-16 2.5 Environmental Evaluation 2-20 I 2.6 Permitting 2-22 I APPENDIX A.