There is a plan to restore Scudders Pond near Sea Cliff as part of the Environmental Restoration Project, which is designed to tame what was formerly the biggest source of bacterial pollution.
In November, a $2.6-million renovation project began, and it will be completed by June. In addition to dredging and other activities, efforts are made to ensure that silt does not fill the 3-acre pond. Consequently, the pond can't be used as a natural device to filter runoff before entering the harbor.
Eric Swenson, the chairman of the protection committee, recalled that when the committee was established in 1995, the first thing it did was conduct a study on what improvements needed to be made to the water quality in the harbor. "And, according to that study, Scudders Pond has the worst watershed."
A coalition of local villages, both city and county governments, the town of North Hempstead, The Town of Oyster Bay, The Town of Glen Cove, and the City of Sea Cliff is managing the project for the Village of Sea Cliff.
The last time the Scudders Pond was dredged was around 1980. The pond had filled up with sediment washed into roadways, storm drains and the pond by the neighbors' hills. It mainly consisted of removing 8,500 cubic yards of silt from the waterway so that it is back to its historic maximum depth of three feet. The project is funded in part by state and Nassau County grants.
In order to control silt in the pond, a concrete box with filters was buried at the head of a stream last week. There will periodically be a sewage truck pulling out the silt. As part of the project, the stream was redesigned with smoother curves to prevent bank erosion, which would increase silt flow into the pond.
A concrete weir has also been added to a small pond upstream from the main pond to assist with runoff. It replaced a deteriorating wire cage filled with rocks.
During the early stages of the project, the pond was surrounded by invasive phragmites plants, obscuring it from view. The nonnative vegetation has been removed, and native vegetation will replace it, stopping the Canada geese from nesting in the pond and contaminating it with their droppings.
"Hopefully" the runoff pollution will be reduced, Swenson said, when the project is completed.
The local officials have discussed stocking the pond with hatchery fish as well as cleaning it up. This will encourage fishing at the pond, which is currently mainly used for ice skating in winter.
It is also hoped that the project will improve the water quality enough so that shellfishing off nearby Tappan Beach, which had been banned for 45 years, can one day again be allowed by the state.
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