Pond Opening Update – Fall/Winter 2018:

We have good news to report in that the Pond was cut on November 18th. Prior to the cut, EGP was ~3.6 feet above sea level.  The water level dropped for 24 hours, then the Pond became tidal and the estuary flushed with cooler, saltier, and cleaner seawater.  Since the November opening, the Pond has closed and come back open several times.

EGP is in a much better position this winter than it was in last winter.  As of January 1st 2019, the Pond was 2.4 feet above sea level. EGP entered the fall/winter of 2017 with a much greater water height.  The extreme high water of the 2017/2018 winter was caused by a combination of entering the winter with a high Pond and also a very wet March.

This fall Great Pond Foundation strongly and successfully advocated for the necessity of a Pond cut to the Town of Edgartown in order to enter the winter with a low Pond and avoid a repeat of last year’s flooding. GPF installed a water level logger that records the height of the Pond with respect to sea level.  Per Paul Bagnall, Edgartown Shellfish Constable, the Pond can and should be cut when EGP is 3-4 feet above sea level.  In March of 2018 the Pond was >5 feet above sea level when GPF, with the permission of the Town, made an emergency cut in the barrier beach in order to lower the Pond.