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Great Island Pond

Great Island Pond (called Big Island Pond by the locals and Island Pond by the USGS^*) is a 77 acre pond approximately 2/3rds of a mile long and 1/3rd of a mile wide.

You can circumnavigate the pond on well established trails and forest roads, beginning and ending your journey from within the community. A canoe or kayak trip around the pond (including the cove at the north and south ends) is about 2.25 miles.

*NOTE: There are two other "Island Ponds" in the town of Plymouth. One is north-east of Flagg Hill and the other is west of Cedarville. Great Island Pond is the largest of the three.

The pond was mapped by the state in 1912 (Click on the map to see an larger version). At that time, there was a house on the island (known as Munnohannit Island) and one at the current location of The Pinehills Pond Amenity. The maximum depth was recorded as 17 feet. Here are the field notes from that day;

Public Use

Great Island Pond is owned by the Town of Plymouth. The pond is used for fishing and boating. The local kids have used the pond as a swimming spot for many years. The area around the pond is used by kids on dirt bikes and four-wheelers and adults in off-road vehicles. The area is also used for paintball games and you may discover the colored spheres left littering the area by the players.

The Town of Plymouth prohibits jet skis and power boats with engines more than 50 hp on Great Island Pond (50 hp is generally considered too small for water skiing). The Plymouth Harbormaster has jurisdiction over activities on the pond. The Massachusetts State Environmental Police have jurisdiction over dirt bike and ATV usage. The Plymouth Conservation Commission has jurisdiction over  the 100 foot buffer (see below) around the pond protected by the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act.

"The Rope Swing Pond"

A local Plymouth resident who was visiting Great Island Pond with his children said that he has been coming to the pond since he was a kid and that he and his friends used to call it "The Rope Swing Pond".

Water Quality

Great Island Pond, Island Pond (94075), is listed in the Massachusetts Year 2008 Integrated List of Waters as Massachusetts Category 4c Waters "Impairment not Caused by a pollutant" (exotic species)
USES ATTAINED: Secondary Contact Recreation, Aesthetics.

Possible Use Categories;

• Aquatic Life,

• Fish Consumption,

• Drinking Water,

• Primary Contact Recreation (e.g. swimming),

• Secondary Contact Recreation (e.g. boating),

• Shellfish Harvesting and

• Aesthetics (i.e. no objectionable odor, color, taste, turbidity or nuisance species).

According to the "SOUTH SHORE COASTAL WATERSHEDS - LAKE ASSESSMENTS"

It should be noted that Pine Hills LLC is authorized to discharge from their private sewer treatment facility to the ground (Groundwater Discharge Permit #0-680). The Pine Hills LLC, Golf Club is permitted to withdraw 0.39 MGD of water from four interceptor wells located down gradient of the sewer treatment discharge but up gradient of Island Pond (Appendix E, Table E5). The Pine Hills LLC private sewer treatment facility was used as a holding facility for wastewater until the spring of 2003 (Dudley 2005).

The 1996 MassDEP synoptic survey found sparse surface plant cover overall, but the northeast cove had moderate plant cover including the non-native aquatic species Cabomba caroliniana (Appendix C, Table C1).

Water quality sampling in the pond was initiated in 2003 at two sampling stations as part of the Pinehills LLC Groundwater Discharge Permit # 0-680 prior to development activity occurring within the 300’ buffer (Horsley & Witten 2004). However, insufficient quality assurance data are currently available, so these data were not utilized for this assessment.

DWM conducted fish toxics monitoring in 1995 that did not result in a site-specific fish advisory by MDPH (Appendix D, Table D2).

REF: Horsley & Witten. 2004. 2003 Annual Report for The Pinehills Groundwater Discharge Permit 0-680. Horsley & Witten, Inc. Sandwich, MA.

Can I Swim in Great Island Pond?

Great Island Pond is upstream of the Manomet Landfill so it is probably safe to swim despite not obtaining the Primary Contact Recreation designation. There is no inlet stream so the pond is surface and groundwater fed from the same source as The Pinehills drinking water supply. The water is clear and warm, so enjoy.

You may notice a large number of water striders dancing on the surface of Great Island pond (I estimate an average of 3 per square foot or 10 million in Great Island's 77 acres). Water striders do not bite.

Protection

1) Endangered Species

The area around Great Island pond is designated by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) as 'Priority Habitats of Rare Species' based on documented observations of state-listed rare species within the last 25 years. These habitats are protected under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA). Eastern Box Turtle have been found in the area.

Projects within 'Priority Habitats of Rare Species' must be reviewed by the NHESP for compliance with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA).

A project includes "Any physical alteration of land, soil, drainage or destruction of plant life." Penalties include "a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days or both such fine and imprisonment."

IMPORTANT: Note that existing homes (shown in this spring 2006 image) that face the pond and future homes along the pond are all in this protected area. The protected area (represented in yellow on the map) extends 200 meters (656 feet) from the pond.

2) Wetlands Protection

A 100' buffer zone around the pond is protected by the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, M.G.L. c. 131 s. 40 and Regulations 310 CMR 10.00 et seq., and Plymouth's Wetlands Protection Bylaw, Article 27 s.4 and Regulations. 3 (B) (1), (2). The Plymouth Conservation Commission has jurisdiction over the buffer zone. Disturbing the buffer zone around the pond will result in an Enforcement Action by the Commission which will include fines, restoration costs and potentially incarceration. Enforcement Actions are taken against the owner of the property, regardless of who was responsible for the disturbance.

NOTE: Great Island is a good neighbor to the pond. Great Island homes are all connected to the Pinehills Wastewater Treatment plant. All of the surface run-off from rain is caught in detention ponds on the property and is not discharged into the pond. There is a 100 foot 'undisturbed open space' buffer along the pond and the homes are set back from the pond by at least 200 feet making them barely visible from the pond. The community uses a limited fertilization program (3.5 lbs/1,OOO SF/yr nitrogen) to protect the pond.

Fishing

There are no recent data on fish in the pond. However, the pond has a long history as a fishing spot and continues to attract fishermen and their boats from the surrounding area. The picture on the left is of some visitors from Pennsylvania with a largemouth bass they caught at the Pond Amenity.

There is only one record of the pond being stocked. Permission to stock the pond was given in August, 1929 with the recommendation of Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Smallmouth Bass, and White Perch. The pond was stocked on November 18, 1931 with 2200 Bluegill, 300 "Horned Pout," and 150 Yellow Perch. A survey was conducted on July 27, 1955 with the use of rotenone. The following fish were collected;

Yellow Perch: 259. Total weight 6.6 lbs.
"Johnny Darter:" 1
Brown Bullhead: 102. Total weight1.7 lbs.
Bluegill: 31. Total weight 3.7 lbs.
Pumpkinseed: 114. Total weight 2.6 lbs.
Golden Shiner: 15
Killifish: 12
Smallmouth Bass: 5. Total weight 0.2 lbs.
Chain Pickerel: 25. Total weight 1.2 lbs.

Aquatic Plants

Notations on the 1912 map of Great Island Pond indicate the presence of the emergent aquatic plants cow lily, water willow, iris and white lily, exclusively in the coves at the north and south ends of the pond. Today, all of the plants mentioned in the 1912 field notes can still be found in the pond although cow lily seems to occur in much smaller quantity (in deeper water in the north cove).  

However, pickerelweed, water shield, common reed and common rush can now also be found in the pond, having invaded all of the shallow areas (the pond amenity beach and launch area are both infested with pickerelweed and rush). The common reed, considered an invasive, non-native (ESTABLISHED) species in Massachusetts, has established itself in the north cove of Great Island pond (near the cranberry bog outlet).

The bottoms of the coves are also now covered with fanwort, which was apparently not present in 1912. Fanwort is also considered an  invasive, non-native (ESTABLISHED) species in Massachusetts.

Wildlife

You'll find swans, generally a single pair, inhabiting the pond during the spring that nest in the northern cove. Juvenile swan have been observed in early spring. The swan disappear by late May. Great blue heron also frequent the pond and Osprey often can be seen soaring over the pond. There has been an observation of a white raccoon along the shore of the pond.

Great Island Pond Beaches

There is a small sandy beach located at the north end of the pond, on property owned by the Town of Plymouth (Carolyn Drive Parcel below). The beach is often used as a launching point for fishing and recreation boats. The photo at the top of this page was taken from the beach.

There is another, somewhat smaller sandy beach on the east side of the pond, also on property owned by the Town of Plymouth (see Old Sandwich Road Parcel below). During the summer months, you'll sometimes find campers set up at this beach.

There is also a small beach at The Pinehills Pond Amenity (below).

The Pinehills Pond Amenity

The Pinehills pond amenity is a 1.16 acre parcel on Great Island Pond established as a common area serving all units within The Pinehills. It is located on community property just north of the property owned by WOODLAND REALTY TRUST (Beaver Dam Road Parcel below)

Great Island Pond Trails

There are lots of trails and forest roads that are not on Great Island property but are owned by the Town of Plymouth and easily accessible by foot from the community. You can circumnavigate Great Island Pond on established paths and forest roads.

Island Pond Road

Savery Road

Surrounding Property

The land around the pond is both publicly and privately owned. Other than community property, there are two parcels owned by the Town of Plymouth and two parcels still in private hands. There is a conservation restriction placed on this property, so it can never be developed, even by the town.

Town Owned Property

Most of the property around the northern and eastern portion of the pond is owned by the Town of Plymouth in two parcels, the Carolyn Drive Parcel and the Old Sandwich Road Parcel.

Privately Owned Property

The island in the center of Great Island Pond (the Great Island Pond Parcel) is privately owned as well as two other parcels, the Beaver Dam Parcel and the Great Island Parcel.