Hearing held to start preparation of environmental assessment of Congamond Lakes

SOUTHWICK — A technical review team held a hearing Thursday at Town Hall to explain the process of coming up with solutions to mitigate flooding and increase water quality at Congamond Lakes, which could take up to two years to design and require funding from the town.

"That's what we're doing here tonight," said Deron Davis, a conservation engineer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service at the start of the meeting about the planning needed before creating a watershed protection program.

"We were able to look into this issue, and I can obviously tell with the data that was provided by the Lake Management Committee that there's flooding issues here," Davis said about the three great ponds of Congamond Lakes.

In 2023, at the request of the town's LNC, a Preliminary Investigation Findings Report was prepared for ways to mitigate flooding in the ponds, and an outside consultant came up with four possible solutions.

"So, we got that out to the public … and we looked at it and said, 'well, the solutions aren't that great,'" Davis said about the four options.

Two were characterized by the NRCS as "structural solutions." One is to build an outlet pipe in North Pond, replace the culverts between the ponds, and install a larger weir at the entrance of Canal Brook. The other is to do all of those things and also build a new weir on the Great Brook Canal.

The fourth option, called a "non-structural solution," was to purchase and demolish 79 homes along the ponds' shore at risk for flooding in a 100-year storm.

The cost of the solutions in the NRCS report ranged from zero, for the "take no action" option, to $43 million for the "non-structural" option, to $54 million for the structural option that addresses Canal Brook only, and $72 million for the option that includes Great Brook.

"Now we're going to look at project alternatives through this planning process. We're going to evaluate those, and that will be the town as the sponsor and NRCS together, working with a consultant to evaluate those concerns, and eventually we'll find a project, a solution that's the preferred alternative," Davis said.

The planning process is expected to last about 18 months, he said, which should provide a solution for potential flooding and increasing water quality.

After that is completed, Davis said the design of the solution will be funded by the federal government, but the cost of the construction of the preferred option will be split, 65% by the federal government and 35% by the town.

The engineering and consulting firm, Tetra Tech's Vice President, Sarah Watts, explained the planning process for the environmental assessment before any federal funding is allocated.

She said it must fall in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and will culminate in a document called an Environmental Assessment.

Its purpose is to help engage the public in the process, to help inform decision-making around identifying the alternatives, and make sure they are in compliance with or in alignment with the purpose and need, she said.

"We explore a range of alternatives and evaluate and understand the potential consequences or impacts of those alternatives," she said.

The assessment identifies solutions that are defensible from a technical, environmental, economic, and social standpoint, considering factors like structural measures for floodplain management, non-structural measures, public health and safety that are all in alignment with protecting the functions of the natural systems, she said.

Those also include looking at geology and soils, water resources that include wetlands, air quality, vegetation, fish and wildlife, socioeconomics, and recreation, she said.

"I know that's a really important one here in Congamond Lakes, Watts said about recreation.

She said the final EA document includes all the elements evaluated to date, summarizes the actions, and recommended actions moving forward.

"At the end of this process, we end up with a decision document that's either a finding of no significant impact, or if we determine that the level of impacts are greater than anticipated, we'll put an EIS or environmental impact statement together and a record of decision," she said.

Davis broke in and explained how important the data the LMC had recorded over the last several decades is important and the public being engaged.

"The Lake Management Committee has really provided a lot of information. You're engaged, which is important. And even those of you on this call and here tonight, you're engaged. That's what we want," he said.

After Pare Corporation engineer Matthew Dunn spent nearly an hour going through the geographic features of the area surrounding the ponds and how Great and Canal brooks could be restored to when each served as an outflow to the ponds, Davis wanted to share an important piece of the funding puzzle.

Once the flooding and water quality solutions are settled on, the town and the federal government must sign an agreement, he said.

"It says, we're going to get funding to fund the construction. [The town] is committing to an extent so that we feel comfortable then moving forward with the design phase," Davis said, adding we want a full buy-in and the town "is working to get its share."

For those who didn't attend the meeting but have questions or comments, they may be submitted until March 1, 2026, by mail, Congamond Plan EA, c/o Pare Corporation, 10 Lincoln Road Suite 210, Foxboro, MA 02035, or by email to Congamond@parecorp.com .

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