BELCHERTOWN – Local officials are finalizing plans to help keep polluted stormwater out of Arcadia Lake.
The planned project focuses on Federal Street which runs along the edge of Arcadia Lake. The problem? Stormwater flows directly from the roadway into the lake, according to Patty Gambarini, principal environmental planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in Springfield.
“The goal is really to keep pollutants out of the lake,” said Steve Williams, director of Belchertown’s Department of Public Works. “We’ve done a lot over the years to try and protect that resource in town because it is very valuable to us.”
Work will address three points of stormwater discharge, according to Williams.
The project will replace two conventional catch basins on Federal Street with “deep sump catch basins,” which collect any matter that settles as well as remove anything that floats like oils, grease and trash, Williams explained.
The discharge from those basins will then go into an infiltration chamber to allow it to soak back into the soil. Gambarini explained that infiltrating flow is when stormwater soaks into the ground.
The third discharge area will capture the water in a series of bioswales – depressions along side of the road that are lined with stone and vegetation, Williams said. The swales also will help to slow the water to prevent erosion.
Williams said the town spent a large amount of money years ago putting sewer collection systems around the Tri-Lake area.
“Now we’re looking at other smaller projects that have great benefits,” Williams said.
A water quality study of the Arcadia Lake done in 2014 found the waterbody to be relatively clean, according to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
“It is important to do what we can to protect the lake’s water quality going forward and MassDEP fortunately recognizes this through the series of grant they have provided for the lakes,” Belchertown Conservation Agent LeeAnne Connolly stated in a news release.
The current timeline is to put the project out to bid over the winter with construction starting in the spring, according to Gambarini. The nearly $70,000 project is funded through a 60 percent grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and a 40 percent local match using funds from the budgets of the Lakes Association and Department of Public Works.
The improvements are expected to prevent more than 2,000 pounds of sediment, nutrients and other contaminants from entering the lake each year, according to Williams.
Gambarini said she hopes the project will inspire others around the lake to think about what they could do to capture stormwater through erosion control, rain gardens or other best management approaches.
“I think people really care about it, but sometimes it’s not entirely clear what to do,” Gambarini said.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.