Alteration of water levels in a Massachusetts coastal plain pond subject to municipal ground-water withdrawals

Abstract

ABSTRACT The coastal plain ponds that occur within glacial deposits in the northeastern U.S. experience annual and inter-annual water level fluctuations. Periodic inundation and drying of coastal plain pond shorelines has led to the development of pondshore vegetation communities that are unusually diverse and restricted in distribution. Because water level fluctuations are the primary abiotic control on plant community composition and dynamics, ground-water extraction for municipal supply has the potential to alter pond hydroperiod and plant community structure. We assessed the influence of ground-water pumping on pond levels at Mary Dunn Pond in the Hyannis Ponds Complex in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Short-term well pumping tests, seepage rate measurements, and measurements of surface-water and ground-water temperatures during pumping tests provided unequivocal evidence of an intimate surface-water/ground-water connection. A regression model that related pond levels to pumping and natural background var...