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12.28.2001 10:40
Catching up with . . . Pawtuxet River
WEST WARWICK
-- One weekend in July, most of Natick Pond vanished -- draining away through a broken sluice gate that had burst after a spring of heavy rain.
For more than a month, the riverbed was bared to the elements. But little by little, the hole in the Natick Dam was plugged with debris.
The river reappeared.
"Because of all the stuff that had accumulated, all the debris and logs, the water level is back up," said Ginny Leslie, a member of the Pawtuxet River Authority Board, a state-chartered agency that monitors the river.
"Nature has gone and taken care of it."
But she added that the authority is still working on repairing the gate once and for all. Executive Director Guy N. Lefebvre said his agency plans to take title to the dam next summer, and repair the gate in the second quarter.
To do so, the agency needs $4,000 -- about $2,000 to pay the back taxes the previous owner owes the town, and another $2,000 for repairs.
Sen. Aram Garabedian helped the authority apply for a $3,000 legislative grant, which has been approved, though Lefebvre said he has not yet received the grant money. The rest, he said, will come from the authority's municipal funds.
Taking title of the dam will also help the authority study the river, Lefebvre said. "When we install a new gate, we will become the stewards of Natick Pond," he said. "Then the organization will do a plant inventory, a macro-invertebrate survey, and a fish assemblage analysis," he said.
Although the water level has returned to normal at Natick Pond, Lefebvre and Leslie say it's only a matter of time until the dam breaks again, unless it is properly maintained.
"If we have a big storm, if we have enough water, the pressure will push all that debris away and the pond will drain again," Leslie said.
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