Bare Hill Pond Is Dropping on a Schedule Harvard Voted For

The water leaving Bare Hill Pond this fall comes from two sources, and most of it is planned. A dry year had already left the pond about 18 inches below its spring target before the drawdown began. The rest, about five more feet, is coming out on purpose, at a set pace, toward a depth the Harvard Conservation Commission approved on Oct. 1 after more than 270 people signed a petition asking for less.

As reported in The Harvard Press, the commission voted to approve the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee's proposed 6-foot winter drawdown and turned down the request to hold this year's drawdown to 4 feet. The shoreline that shows up through November is the result of that decision, on a calendar the committee published in advance.

Six feet or six and a half

There are two numbers in circulation, and both are correct. They are measured from different starting points.

The pond committee defines "full" as 29 inches below the top of the dam. Its spring refill target sits 7 inches higher, at 22 inches below the top. Measured from that spring target, the committee's plan calls for a 6.5-foot drawdown. Measured from "full," the same water level is a 6-foot drawdown, and 6 feet below full is what the commission approved. The Press first reported 6½ feet and later corrected its story to 6.

The drought explains why only about five feet has to come out. Committee Chair Bruce Leicher told the commission the pond was already 18 inches below its spring target. Taking out five more feet reaches the approved level, which is the same depth as last winter's drawdown. The town's Oct. 9 notice board set the start date for Oct. 15 and said the level would typically fall about 1.5 to 2 inches a day.

Why the commission held at six

The petitioners' question was reasonable. With the pond already low from a dry year, would another deep drawdown leave it short next summer? The commission answered from the committee's record of what happened in winters when the drawdown was shallow.

"We have a technique that works. It does not work at 4 feet. [We have] 25 years of data to show that." Britt Argow, Harvard Conservation Commission, as quoted in The Harvard Press

That record goes back to 1998, when Massachusetts DEP listed Bare Hill Pond as endangered because of milfoil, fanwort and high phosphorus. Drawdowns started in 2002. The strongest evidence came from a run of bad luck. In 2022–23 and 2023–24, a failed pump kept the drawdown shallow, and the committee says the pond then suffered major setbacks in water quality, invasive regrowth and algal bloom risk.

Shallow-water plant surveys in the committee's 2025–26 annual report show the difference:

The committee also reports summer 2026 clarity readings of 8 to 13 feet, a Town Beach substantially free of fanwort and milfoil, and no significant cyanobacteria detected by the Board of Health. In its plan, the committee says this year's low level had nothing to do with drawdown depth. It points to lower levels this year on comparable ponds in the region that had shallow drawdowns or none at all.

The vote did not end the discussion. Commission member John Lee said that if this year's conditions keep coming back, "then it's time to reevaluate." Chair Jim Burns said the longer-term goal is to learn how the pond responds to different weather, work the commission began this summer with Harvard hydrologists Martin Briggs and Danielle Hare.

How the water comes down

The plan held off any action until Oct. 15. That kept the pond usable for September and October activities, rowing season included. The plan gives the sequence from there:

1. Most of October is a gravity drawdown. DPW pulls boards from the dam, and the plan says gravity rarely moves water faster than 2 inches a day.
2. The pump starts once the pond drops to the level of the surrounding wetlands. The plan expects that at roughly 2.5 to 3 feet. The pump can't move more than 1.5 inches a day, and the permit caps the rate at 3 inches.
3. Depth targets step down on set dates. The plan's table lists 36 inches on Oct. 15, 48 inches on Oct. 24 and 56 inches on Oct. 28, measured as the table is headed, from the top surface of the dam.
4. The drawdown stops at the target, at the end of November or at a hard freeze, whichever comes first. If the target isn't reached by Nov. 30, the committee will go back to the commission.
5. A January check-in decides whether refill starts early.

At this week's pace, the drop is easy to see along the shore from one weekend to the next. One to two inches a day comes to about a foot over a week.

When it comes back

The committee plans to start refilling on or before Feb. 1, 2027, with notice to the commission and abutters. Its plan calls waiting past Feb. 1 unwise, because the habitat needs to be back in place for amphibians, fish and reptiles.

The finish date depends on the weather. In the 2020–21 season, the pond reached its 22-inch spring target on March 18. In 2024–25, it got there on May 24. With the pond starting from a drought deficit this year, snowmelt and spring rain will set the timing more than the calendar will.

What lives along the edge

The low water exposes the shallows where the pond's wildlife spends the year. A turtle survey on Aug. 14, 2026, counted 45 along a route from the shore across from Town Beach, past Girl Scout beach and around some of the islands. The annual report describes many mussels, juveniles among them, found at the 5-foot drawdown stage. It also lists eagles, blue herons, water snakes and crayfish at the pond.

The committee asks for one thing from anyone walking the edge. Pull water chestnut if you see it. Committee member Rick Dickson removed a bucketful in the Clapp's Brook area.

The same weeks on land

The drawdown runs from Oct. 15 to the end of November, and that window lines up with the close of Harvard's outdoor season elsewhere. While the pond goes down, the farm stands and Fruitlands are wrapping up.

The farm hours here come from the Harvard Press farmstand roundup of Oct. 16, and they change week to week. That week, Carlson Orchards at 115 Oak Hill Road had daily apple picking from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the farm store open until 6. Westward Orchards at 178 Mass. Ave. still had PYO apples and its farm store, cider doughnuts included. Westward's pumpkin-patch wagon rides ended Oct. 18. Good Spirits Farm at 106 East Bare Hill Road listed its shed as open daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with fall greens, squash, pears and late tomatoes. Willard Farm's self-service stand at 218 Still River Road had pumpkins, gourds and squash. Old Frog Pond Farm on Eldridge Road has closed for the 2026 season.

Fruitlands keeps its Thursday-to-Sunday hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through the final weekend. The Fruitlands Bonfire is the formal goodbye to the Main Season. The fire is lit around 4:45 p.m., and guests write a wish and tuck it into a basket that goes into the fire. Registration is required, at $15 per car for Trustees members and $25 for nonmembers. Hot cider is sold for cash only. If the weather is bad, the event moves to Sunday, Nov. 8, from 4 to 6 p.m. At the library, the Whalemobile runs four half-hour sessions for children five and older.

By the time the Fruitlands fire is lit, the pond should be close to its winter level. It will stay there until the committee starts the refill, on or before Feb. 1.

If you'd like to talk about a Harvard property and how it relates to the pond, the orchards or the town's long view of its land, Hilary Bovey would be glad to walk it with you. Let's Connect.