Ponds: Wellesley’s forgotten ecosystem  

To the editor:

Wellesley ponds should exist at the heart of the community. They should be valued for the sanctuary and peace they provide, and the recreational opportunities they allow us. Instead we don’t really think about them much, and this may be a byproduct of a world increasingly dominated by technology or simply a result of ignorance on our behalf. Our 2026 Civics Action Project aims to improve the relationship between residents and wildlife in the vicinity of Wellesley’s bodies of water such as Longfellow Pond and Morses Pond through a family-friendly fishing tournament.

Morses Pond has dealt with a long history of environmental damage that still impacts the area today. Decades ago, the pond was heavily contaminated by nearby industrial activity, particularly from paint factories that allowed chromium to leak into the soil and groundwater. This toxic legacy was so severe that a massive project was required in the early 2000s by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to excavate and remove tons of hazardous sediment. Additionally, later in a 2005 plan that carried over into the 2010s led to more dredging that was conducted by Jay Cashman. It took a ton of work and a lot of digging just to get the area back to a point where it was actually safe for people to hang out at again.

Nearby, Longfellow Pond faces similar struggles, as both are part of a connected system where water flows from one area to the next. Even though the industrial toxins were addressed, these ponds now face a modern crisis caused by phosphorus. This nutrient primarily comes from residential sources like hazardous lawn fertilizers, pet waste, and decaying leaves that wash into storm drains. When too much phosphorus enters the shallow water, it acts like “super-food”for invasive weeds and hazardous algae.

This process, known as eutrophication, causes massive algae blooms that block sunlight and deplete the oxygen levels in the water. Without enough oxygen, fish populations struggle to survive, and the water can become murky or even toxic. These phosphorus-driven blooms are the main reason the town often has to close the beach during the summer, proving that runoff from our own backyards is now the biggest threat to the pond’s health.

Even with these challenges our ponds face, Wellesley residents really value their open spaces.  44% of those who took our group’s survey had been to Morses or Longfellow 15+ times, and only 11% had never been to either. Despite this, it’s hard to pinpoint how people actually view each pond. For example, one question asked, “How would you rate the amenities at Morses pond?” For some context on the topic, Morses pond has a well-maintained beach, picnic tables, restrooms, fishing docks and trails. Compared to Longfellow, Morses should be considered to have great amenities. Strangely we got a huge range of responses from 10 stars to 1 star. Morses still had a slightly better average (5.98) compared to Longfellow (4.65) but regardless, it brought to our group’s attention the idea that people may not be as connected to Wellesley’s ponds as we thought.

So we pivoted. Instead of just raising awareness about the environmental state of our ponds we decided to also promote residents to engage with the outdoors more. We believe engagement will drive change and awareness while also getting residents to enjoy nature. Fishing couldn’t be a better messenger for this.  Take this excerpt from an NIH article called “Recreational fishing, health and well-being: findings from a cross-sectional survey.”

“Human populations in urbanized societies tend to carry out daily activities in increasingly denatured habitats, which negatively impacts on how people interact with others and with the environment (Inglehart 1990). The progressive loss of contact with natural environments has been associated with different health problems, mainly triggered by stress.”

The act of pond fishing entails a kind of care and attention to detail that lets us be immersed in our environment. Fishing reduces stress by facilitating a deeper connection to the outdoors and as a result reduces health problems. Additionally, fishing teaches us that we can compete against nature in a healthy way for us and for the fish we eventually release.The fishing tournament will bring people together in friendly competition under the shared goal of preserving Wellesley’s ponds.

One quote that I think is a good representation of the broader ideas behind our project is this one by Henry David Thoreau, who eloquently remarked, “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” It can be interpreted that in a sense, engaging with Wellesley ponds, whether that is through fishing or otherwise, is not about the goal but about the process. We are working on conservation, which implies no fixed endpoint but rather continuous maintenance. So if you want to support our ponds, join us outdoors to fish and celebrate Wellesley pond’s long history and the continued success of conservation efforts.

Wellesley Middle School 8th graders,

André Bacci
Brady Levin
Bryson Paige
Caleb McMillin
John Tedford