Wayland committee backs $21,900 for Heard Pond water chestnut harvesting

WAYLAND — October 16, 2023 — Wayland committee approves up to $21,900 for Heard Pond harvesting after water chestnut explosion. The Surface Water Quality Committee voted unanimously Monday to pay contractor Solitude Lake Management for 17 pulling days at $1,200 per day, plus $1,500 for a final report, after crews harvested an estimated 37,000 plants this season — up from 696 in 2022 — and still left several acres unharvested. Member Thomas J. Largy, who called the season "a disaster," attributed the surge to a dormant seed bank triggered by the 2016 low-water summer. The panel will pursue an amended order of conditions to allow treatment with Clearcast, a newer topical herbicide, and keep the mechanical harvester as backup. Chair Thomas Klem said the Select Board has trimmed the committee's budget to draw down accumulated surplus.