>>19235258
>I bet it can get nasty at times.
It's quite distinct from the ocean and 'managed':
Edgartown Shellfish Constable, Rob Morrison, confirmed today, Friday, that Edartown Great Pond will be cut to the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday morning, March 11th, 2023. Salinity remains critically low and the last several pond cuts have not stayed open long enough for a pond-wide flush that decreases nutrient pollution and increases salinity. EGP is 4.3 feet above mean sea level as of this morning. Let’s all hope for an excellent cut and flush of EGP. Effective pond cuts in EGP tend to have at least 9-11 days of tidal cycles to flush the entire pond.
The Town of Edgartown just finished a season of dredging in Edgartown Great Pond. The area north of the “cut” and in the southeast corner of the pond near the sluiceway were both dredged. Dredging increases the effectiveness of openings by maximizing the volume of water that is exchanged during tidal flushes. While a lot of factors come into play when it comes to cut success, both the high pond (4.3 feet above MSL) and the recent dredging increase the odds of a good cut and flush of Edgartown Great Pond.
https://greatpondfoundation.org/2023/03/10/egp-march-cut/
Before annual dredging began, EGP had impaired water quality, frequent algal blooms, and a struggling oyster population.
With regular dredging, seawater from the Atlantic Ocean reaches all corners and coves of the Pond during an opening. In ideal conditions (good tidal flow) EGP needs to be open a minimum of 9-11 days to flush all regions of the Pond and maximize salinity. In order to preserve the eelgrass ecosystem that has been established in the Pond, the salinity should not drop below 15 ppt (per EPA eelgrass scientist Phil Colarusso). In an ideal world, it would actually stay above 20ppt, but that has not been possible for EGP, at least thus far.
https://greatpondfoundation.org/2020/07/03/dredging-is-essential-to-pond-health/