Watershed News Fall 2020
President’s Address
The fires that have raged across the west this
fall, in the midst of a pandemic and an intense
and exhausting election, made appreciating
fall colors and change all the more welcome
this year. I hope that you enjoyed it all and got
out to revel in the spaciousness of our
beautiful hills and valleys.
Many of you got out to participate in one of
several river clean-ups sponsored by the
WRWA. In addition to our annual clean-ups in
association with the Connecticut River
Conservancy’s ‘Source-to-Sea’ events, several
WRWA Board Members spear-headed the
clean-up of a badly blighted area in West
Springfield. Nice work to all involved!
You may also have participated in our annual
Bill Rose Memorial Fly-Fishing Clinic, which
we held in October. Some 20+ people turned
out and were treated to the expertise of the
Westfield River Watershed Association News 1
Western MA Fly-Fishermen. We gifted a fly-
rod set to a young Boy Scout and observed the
beautiful macro-invertebrates that a fly-tier
tries to mimic. It was a beautiful fall day.
As I write these words, the first round of
vaccinations against COVID-19 are being
performed. I keep likening it to D-Day, when
Allied Troops landed at Normandy, signaling
the beginning of the end of WWII. But the
Battle of the Bulge and many others still lay
ahead, so take courage, folks, we’ll get
through this yet. And when we do, we’ll be
confronting challenges to a clean and
sustainable environment with renewed vigor.
Wishing you all a healthy and happy holiday
this year!
In solidarity with the Watershed,
Brian W. Conz
WRWA President
What is Green Infrastructure?
Some of the most important challenges facing
cities and towns across the country (and the globe
for that matter) involve the management of storm
water and runoff. This is important because as
cities and towns expand, so too do pavements and
asphalt, leading to rapid movement of rainwater
into storm drains and into our rivers, carrying
many non-point source pollutants with it and
potentially leading to flooding. This problem is
particularly acute given the effects of climate
change, where storms are shown to be growing in
terms of the volume of rainfall events. The Clean
Water Act defines green infrastructure as "...the
Good Reads:
After Geo-Engineering: Climate Tragedy,
Repair and Restoration by Holly Jean Buck.
Verso. 2019. 281 pages.
By Brian W. Conz
If you asked me 5 years ago
what I thought of
geoengineering – tinkering
with the Earth system in order
to head off or mitigate the
worst effects of climate
change – I likely would have
responded that it was out of
the question. The risks are too
great and the approach is
attractive mostly for those who put their faith in
technology in order to avoid having to make
changes to the status quo. But things have
changed, even in the past five years. It seems
increasingly unlikely that we will meet targets for
drawing down emissions. In fact, emissions
continue to rise and the climate-related disasters
continue to unfold. Witness this year’s megastorms
Westfield River Watershed Association News 2
range of measures that use plant or soil systems,
permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces
or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or
landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate
stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or
to surface waters." Specific techniques of green
infrastructure include rain gardens, bioswales,
permeable pavements, green roofs, and urban tree
canopy expansion, among many others. WRWA is
currently working with the City of Westfield to
support the expansion of its green infrastructure.
We’ll keep you posted on developments!
that devastated Central America or the fires that
have ravaged Australia and California, among
others. I’m finding myself considering things I
once found unthinkable.
In her recent book, Dr. Holly Jean Buck looks at
geoengineering surveying a variety of strategies,
from the terrifying Solar Radiation Management
(SRM), which involves injecting sulfur particles
into the stratosphere, to the promise of Bioenergy
with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), and
several more. Buck is keen to address the political
and economic concerns associated with these
strategies, highlighting the inherently undemocratic
issues at stake when tinkering with the planet in
such ways.
Buck’s book puts some very complex ideas into
manageable prose for the layperson. Additionally,
Buck is a science fiction writer (in her spare time!)
and she peppers her science writing with portraits
of life in our warming world – in 2070
and beyond!
Species Spotlight: Giant puffballs
By Lauren DiCarlo, Photos by Nick Pietroniro
On a quick trip down to the Westfield River in late
September, a small group of us came across several
GIANT puffballs in the riverfront understory.
A herald of fall, giant puffballs, Calvatia gigantea,
differ from the “typical” mushroom that we think
of. They lack gills, a stalk, and contain their spores
on the interior. In later stages, when broken,
trillions of powdery spores can be released in a
single puff. While these puffballs found by the
river were between 10 and 15 inches in diameter,
there have been reports of giant puffballs reaching
Snorkeling with Big Turtle, Little Bullheads and Big Fish
By Dianne Snyder
It was after 8 pm, and I was snorkeling,
swimming/walking/pulling myself forward on
rocks and sand, going upstream, ready to swim
over the sunken sandy island towards a path up the
riverbank, when a turtle rushed by, in front of my
mask, from the direction I was intending to turn.
After recovering from seeing quite a large
stretched-out creature scurry by, I decided to
follow it, but soon lost sight. Turtle was hidden by
a trail of sediment it stirred up, as it went deeper
toward the middle of the river.
Westfield River Watershed Association News 3
diameters of close to 100 inches and weighing
almost 50 pounds!
Giant puffballs are considered edible in early
stages. When edible, the exterior should be pure
white and when cut open, the insides should also
be bright white and resemble a texture similar to
bread. Once the puffballs start to turn off-white
and spores develop, they become toxic to humans
(as seen in the second photo). Always triple check
mushroom identification before consuming and if
you are unsure, check with a local expert. I heard
that this giant puffball was quite tasty.
I thought it was gone, until the silt-cloud slowly
floated downstream, and revealed the turtle heading
back. I followed. A few times, it turned completely
around, appearing strong as it looked-up at me,
holding my gaze. I back-paddled, keeping a
comfortable distance away, for both of us.
It slowly walked, glided, swam onto and over a
massive submerged pile of leaves, – an area that I
would not ordinarily have snorkeled over. (A mind
wonders what is concealed in a swaying-in-the-
current loose mass of leaves?) As Turtle scaled the
pile, I was pleasantly surprised to see many 6 inch
juvenile bullheads (catfish) merrily swimming,
close to the big turtle too, without fear. Inspired
by their example, I too was able to be there
without fear.
The turtle swam to the highest part of the
submerged billowy brownish-black leaf pile, and
with its back to me, took an upright position,
displaying its 18 inch long and 14 inch wide camo-
colored shell, its thick strong legs, its 12 inch long
thick and meaty cone-shaped tail, its long
expanding 14 inch neck with pointed nose
reaching up to the surface of the water, appearing
to stand on its fully extended tail, with all its legs
stretched out too, suspended on and above the
So I took my leave, swam over the submerged
underwater undulating leaves, sticking its nose
wavering loose leaf pile, and headed to the shore to
slowly and carefully a quarter of an inch above the
get out image
Satellite beforeofdark, when I spotted
the Deepwater Horizon aoil16 inch
spill, fish
2010.
surface of the river, getting a breath of fresh air in Source: NASA
resting quietly in the shadows on the bottom, in 9
the shade from trees lining the river bank, as the
feet of water. Fearless now, I paused, then dove
sun was about to go down through thin clouds
deeper to get a better look at what fish was there.
strung along the western horizon.
My best guess is that it was a big smallmouth river
I was fascinated by Turtle balancing itself in a
bass, which are quite confident around people. It
ballet, – stretching all of its limbs to remain still,
did not run away; it let me take a close look.
as it carefully inhaled, trusting that it was safe
enough, as I floated in place, 6 feet away. Since this area is easy to access, people can be
seen fishing here more than elsewhere. That
It suddenly came down from its pose, (maybe
whopper of a fish managed to survive the many
frightened by my movements looking at its nose
lures that have been thrown in front of it. (I have
above and below water), and then it slowly made
found several in the water there.)
another ascent, to stretch, balance, and gracefully
extend all limbs and its nose – just enough to Yes Dear Fish, you are too smart to bite those
pierce the surface of the river. Several seconds metal and plastic lures – good for you. I hope you
later, it hastily turned downward and disappeared make it thru this fishing season. Your hiding place
into the mass of leaves. is safe with me. See you in the river another day.

Tackling Culvert Problems in the Westfield Watershed

by Cassidy Quistorff and Jake Lehan becoming roadkill and disconnecting fish from
Reproduced with permission from the more suitable habitats upstream of the road.
NPS Website. Failing and undersized culverts and bridges disrupt
the flow of ecosystem services and jeopardize
Culverts and small bridges that make up our
transportation infrastructure by clogging with
transportation network are often an unnoticed
debris and eroding the stream channel and banks.
threat to rivers. Much like the aquatic barriers
Today, watershed groups are helping
created by dams, roads that fail to allow rivers and
municipalities prioritize the replacement of
streams to flow naturally disrupt aquatic
culverts to better serve their rivers. For the
ecosystems. Poorly designed road-stream
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, replacing these
crossings fragment habitats causing wildlife to risk

Westfield River Watershed Association News 4

culverts to the MA Stream Crossing Standards is a
high priority for both transportation resilience and
ecosystem health.
The Wild and Scenic Westfield River Advisory
Committee has made improving road-stream
crossings a priority. Their efforts began several
years ago when the Committee was able to engage
interns from the local university to undertake
assessments of the road-stream crossings in the
watershed. The collected data was used to
prioritize the crossing presenting the worst barriers
to connectivity. This ranking was further refined to
identify structurally compromised culverts likely
to need replacing in the near term.
Culverts that don’t provide adequate drainage can
cause structural damage to roads and bridges
causing blowouts.
The next step was to engage the Wild & Scenic
towns to identify how the Committee could help
the towns and the river address the prioritized
culverts. A further step taken was to work with
three communities with culverts at the top of the
list. The Committee took on the task of managing Jim Caffrey, the Town of Windsor representative for
and funding the initial assessment and concept the Westfield Wild and Scenic River Committee,
design work for five culverts and assisting the provided technical assistance for the culvert survey.
towns with a grant application to fund the next A major gain of properly sized culverts is stream
steps. They also served as the project manager continuity for fisheries and wildlife; Jim sees other
taking the burden off the small towns to manage exciting benefits, too. “Maybe even a bigger selling
the work. Bundling five separate culverts into one point would be storm resilience… getting worse
contract also produced a cost savings. All three pop-up storms that nobody can predict, and they’ve
towns, Becket, Cummington and Windsor been overwhelming the smaller culverts.” Storm
Massachusetts, submitted grants to further the resiliency is a major consideration when factoring
culvert replacement to MA Division of Ecological in culvert design, and according to the MDER, there
Restoration's Culvert Replacement Municipal are over 20,000 undersized culverts within the
Assistance Program. Commonwealth. This issue will only continue to
have detrimental effects as stronger storms become
In 2019, the Town of Windsor, Massachusetts more common as a result of a changing climate.
received a large grant to replace problem culverts
on Westfield’s East Branch. With funding through After receiving the MDER grant, the Town of
a stream community grants program, they were Windsor, the MA Department of Public Works, and
able to bring in professionals who provided an the Westfield Wild and Scenic River committee are
initial culvert project design. This also provided a partnering on this project to replace culverts in the
basis for a larger grant application to the Westfield watershed, set to be in place next year.
Massachusetts Department of Ecological Jim explained his excitement at the prospect of this
Restoration (MDER). successful partnership, “It’s great to be in Windsor

Westfield River Watershed Association News 5

and see this happening… [I’m] hoping to point to
these successes and say it wasn’t that painful
[laughs] – it was a good process!”
The Westfield Wild and Scenic River offers many
exciting examples of what being a Partnership
WRWA Embraces Environmental Justice
By Student Board Member
Daizha Baptiste- Johnson
The Westfield River Watershed Association stands
in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter
movement and continues to use its platform to
raise awareness to issues that affect disadvantaged
groups. Last spring, the association sponsored and
made plans to participate in a cross-cultural
environmental justice symposium. Although the
event was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic,
the association was involved in hosting numerous
guest speakers and events pertaining to the cross-
cultural dimensions of environmental justice and
other issues affecting the community, organized at
Westfield State University.
Westfield River Watershed: To Heir is Apparent
By Heather Wyman
One of the privileges bestowed upon the WRWA
since its inception in 1953, has been to protect,
improve, and expand opportunities for people to
engage in our Watershed. To become better
stewards to the Watershed, people can simply start
by looking at the river and appreciate the flowing
beauty. To become familiar, we can start to
observe and identify the unique plants and wildlife
that live in, on and around the water. To become
heirs, we must explore and immerse ourselves in
the trees and trails, the cellar holes and stone
walls, the history and the future of what the
Watershed holds.
For the fall and coming winter, here are a few of
our favorite Family-Friendly Waterfall hikes.
Please remember to respect parking requests,
marked private property, and local COVID
ordinances when you go. Rest facilities may not be
Westfield River Watershed Association News 6
Wild and Scenic River can achieve. For Jim, he
wouldn’t have it any other way. “I like doing it this
way; it’s grassroots; it’s what you make of it.”
Additionally, the WRWA has created
subcommittees focused on community outreach
and education, which serve to impact and inform
the community on local issues of environmental
justice. The association also sponsored a Fly
Fishing Clinic Event in which fly fishing experts
taught members of the community fishing
techniques and a free fly fishing kit was given
away to an individual who needed it. The
Westfield River Watershed Association strives to
enhance and protect the natural resources of the
watershed in addition to tackling issues that affect
the local community’s ability to enjoy, learn, and
grow in the interest of an ecologically sound and
sustainable environment for all.
available or open, and please remember to pack in-
pack out all “personal litter," travel and park on
durable surfaces, leave what you find, respect the
wildlife, and be considerate of others.
Sanderson Brook Falls: Chester, MA Chester-
Blandford State Forest (DCR) 1.9 mile total out-
and-back hike up a closed, and well-maintained
dirt forest road. The 60’ falls are directly off the
road to the right. Continue exploring using the
forest roads for an extended walk. Official DCR
map: https://www.mass.gov/doc/chester-blandford-
state-forest-trail-map/download
Chesterfield Gorge: Chesterfield, MA (Trustees
of the Reservation Property) The gorge offers a
stunning > 1 mile trail with safety fencing above
the Gorge. From the parking lot, you can pick up
part of the 9-mile East Branch Trail that follows
the river on the old dirt River Road and turn
around at your heart’s content.
Bearhole Reservoir: West Springfield, MA waterfall (Red Dot) < 2 mile out-and-back. You
(Soon-to-be joint DCR/Mass Audubon Property). may also continue the loop around the Reservoir
A generous parking lot off of Bear Hole Rd puts for a nice 2.5 mile walk. Bearhole Dam Road is
you at the gate to a wide, gravel path to the paved, and does include a surprising hill.

American Shad counts were up this year on the Westfield River!

Steven Mattacks, Fisheries Operations Biologist with DFW
Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW)
reports that the fish ladder at the West Springfield
dam operated well in 2020. DFW installed a
camera system last year in the counting room that
was successfully used for the 2020 season, where
motion-sensor video was recorded and viewed
weekly to count fish. The fish ladder passed 5,549
American Shad in 2020 (other species weren’t
counted this year). This is a 52% increase from the DFW is working to establish a new eel passage
long term, 24-year average (1996-2019) and up structure, which at this point is estimated to be
33% from 2019, which was 4,166. complete by 2024. There are dam repairs
scheduled to begin in 2021 which will address the
American Shad migrate up the Connecticut River
deteriorating concrete spillway crest, followed by
from the Atlantic Ocean to spawn in freshwater.
an eel migration study (2023) to determine the
Just how many Shad are on the move? Well, the
final design of the eel ladder. Eels need a separate
fish elevator on the Connecticut River in Holyoke
passage system because they cannot handle the
passed 362,423 American Shad in 2020!
high velocities of the fishway.
The fish ladder worked well this year despite the
vandalism of the old counting room/storage shed
which was burned down by arsonists the night of
August 12th, 2019. According to a Western Mass
News report from August of last year, the West
Springfield Police are offering a $5,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest and conviction of
the person(s) responsible for burning the structure
and equipment at the West Springfield fish ladder.

Westfield River Watershed Association News 7

Watershed board members
Officers:
President: Brian Conz 999 General Knox Rd., Russell, MA 01071 572-8084
1st Vice President: Mark Damon 297 Western Ave Westfield 01085 977-1577
2nd Vice President: Ann Barone 3 Delancey St, Westfield 01085 374-9799
Secretary: Jake Lehan 577 Western Ave, Westfield, MA 01086 364-3413
Treasurer: John Pelli 32 Laro Road, Westfield, MA 01085 562-0182
Directors:
Sheryl Becker 142 Beekman Dr, Agawam, MA 01001 374-1921
Daizha Baptiste-Johnson 91 Three Rivers Road Wilbraham MA 01095 309-2740
Kristen Couture 42 Spruceland Rd., Enfield, CT 06082 860-818-9083
Lauren Di Carlo 15 Angelica Drive, Westfield, Ma. 01085 572-8609
Ron Lucassen 39 Rachael Terrace, Westfield, MA 01085 568-4252
Julieanne Sobon
Dianne Snyder 6 Park St., Westfield, MA 01085 562-6126
Heather Wyman 38 Rosedell Dr, Westfield, MA 01085
Honorary Directors
Dan Call 78 Granville Road, Unit 10, Westfield 01085 364-0993

A Month of River Cleanups

Low levels of rain isn’t often good for a river, but
this month it’s helped with all the cleanups we’ve
been able to do. On September 13th, WRWA
volunteers cleaned an area in West Springfield.
Then on September 26th, in conjunction with the
Connecticut River Conservancy’s Source-to-Sea
project, two more cleanups were done along the
Westfield. One group operated out of Agawam,
beginning from the Pynchon Point area at the
mouth of the river and
The other September 26th group met in Westfield, To all our volunteers – thank you. It isn’t easy to
and fanned out to sites in Westfield and Russell, work around the public health-related restrictions
with 25 adults and 4 high school students picking associated with coronavirus, and your dedication
up 50 bags of trash, along with an air conditioner, and hard work in a difficult time is inspiring. The
a small refrigerator, several chairs, a door, and river is getting better, and your work is a major
construction debris, among other large items. part of it. See you on the river.

Westfield River Watershed Association News 8

WRWA
PO Box 1764
Westfield, MA 01086-1764

The
Westfield River Watershed
Association Newsletter In This Issue
Fall 2020 President’s Message .............................. 1
What is Green Infrastructure? ............... 2
Good Reads .......................................... 2
Species Spotlight ................................... 3
Snorkeling with Big Turtle ...................... 3
Partner Spotlight: Tackling Culvert
Problems in the Westfield Watershed ..... 4
WRWA Embraces
Environmental Justice ........................... 6
To Heir is Apparent ................................ 6
American Shad counts up! ..................... 7
A Month of River Cleanups..................... 8

Westfield River Watershed Association News 9