Squantz Pond

Last updated
Squantz Pond
Squantz Pond.jpg
Squantz Pond from the southern shore
Relief map USA Connecticut.png
Red pog.svg
Squantz Pond
Location New Fairfield, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°31′N73°29′W / 41.52°N 73.48°W / 41.52; -73.48
Surface area288 acres (117 ha) [1]
Average depth22.9 ft (7.0 m) [1]
Max. depth47 ft (14 m) [1]
Water volume2,228,000,000 US gal (8.43×109 L; 1.855×109 imp gal) [1]
Squantz Pond
Interactive map of Squantz Pond

Squantz Pond is a 288-acre lake in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It is located on the town line of Sherman and New Fairfield, and is bordered by manmade Candlewood Lake. [1] The south shore is protected as Squantz Pond State Park (established in 1926), and is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. [2] The pond is named for Chief Squantz, a leader of the Schaghticoke tribe. [3]

Contents

Characteristics

NASA satellite photo of Squantz Pond Squantz.jpg
NASA satellite photo of Squantz Pond

Before 1929, Squantz Pond was recorded to be 65 acres (26 ha) in area. However, the 1921 discovery of a 22 foot-long canoe at the bottom of the lake lead historians to speculate that it was once a larger body of water. [3]

After the creation of Candlewood Lake in 1929, the size and depth of Squantz Pond increased. [1] It was one of four ponds that formed the larger lake basin, including Barse Pond, Creek Pond, and Neversink Pond. Squantz Pond is now separated from the rest of Candlewood Lake by a causeway. [3]

The watershed of Squantz Pond is 3,667 acres (1,484 ha), much of which is undeveloped. Lake Mauweehoo is located in the watershed. Squantz Pond is fed by Glen Brook. [1] In 1980, it was classified as being a mesotrophic lake. [1]

Ecology

Squantz Pond is home to a diverse variety of fish. Common species include walleye,[ citation needed ] yellow perch, white perch, chain pickerel, largemouth bass, brown bullhead, yellow bullhead, banded killifish, spottail shiner, rock bass, redbreast sunfish, bluegill, and pumpkinseed. Rarer species found in Squantz Pond include smallmouth bass, black crappie, black bullhead, and golden shiner. The lake is stocked with brown trout and rainbow trout. [1] Alewives were introduced by 1973. [1]

Aquatic plant communities have historically included Ceratophyllum , Vallisneria , and Potamogeton . [1] A 2011 study found 11 species within Squantz Pond, including native coontail ( Ceratophyllum demersum ), western waterweed ( Elodea nuttallii ), and slender naiad ( Najas flexilis ). Two invasive species, Eurasian watermilfoil ( Myriophyllum spicatum ) and minor naiad ( Najas minor ), were also found. [4]

Shallow water communities include plants such as waterwort ( Elatine ), spikerush ( Eleocharis ), pickerelweed ( Pontederia cordata ), snailseed pondweed ( Potamogeton bicupulatus ), bur-reed ( Sparganium ), and cattail ( Typha ). [4]

Sterile grass carp were released into the lake in 2017 to combat the spread of the invasive Eurasian watermilfoil. By 2019, the lake had lost almost all of its vegetation. [5] Although reports have not confirmed a correlation, it has been theorized that the carp have consumed all accessible plants. [6]

Recreation

Squantz Pond State Park covers 172 acres of the southwestern shore of the lake. The park offers swimming, fishing, and scuba diving, and motorized boating. [7] Cliff jumping into the lake is outlawed. [8]

Blue-green algae blooms are frequent, and it is common for water quality issues to close the lake to swimmers. [9] [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookfield, Connecticut</span> Town in Connecticut, United States

Brookfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, situated within the southern foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. The population was 17,528 at the 2020 census. The town is located 55 miles (89 km) northeast of New York City, making it part of the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA combined statistical area. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. In July 2013, Money magazine ranked Brookfield the 26th-best place to live in the United States, and the best place to live in Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Fairfield, Connecticut</span> Town in Connecticut, United States

New Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 13,579 at the 2020 census. New Fairfield is one of five towns that surround Candlewood Lake, the largest lake in Connecticut. The town is located 55 miles (89 km) northeast of New York City, making it part of the New York metropolitan area. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherman, Connecticut</span> Town in Connecticut, United States

Sherman is the northernmost and least populous town of Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,527 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. The town was formed in 1802 from the northern part of New Fairfield. It is named for Roger Sherman, the only person who signed all four founding documents of the United States of America. He also had a cobblers shop in the north end of town which has been reconstructed behind the Northrup House in the center of town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housatonic River</span> River in the northeastern U.S.

The Housatonic River is a river, approximately 149 miles (240 km) long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about 1,950 square miles (5,100 km2) of southwestern Connecticut into Long Island Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squantz Pond State Park</span> State park in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Squantz Pond State Park is a public recreation area located 10 miles (16 km) north of Danbury in the town of New Fairfield, Connecticut. The state park encompasses 172 acres (70 ha) on the southwestern shore of 270-acre (110 ha) Squantz Pond, offering opportunities for boating, swimming, fishing, and hiking. The park is bordered on the west by Pootatuck State Forest and is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candlewood Lake</span> Lake in Western Connecticut, United States

Candlewood Lake is a manmade lake located in Fairfield and Litchfield counties of Western Connecticut, in the northeastern United States. At 8.4 square miles (22 km2), it is the largest lake in Connecticut and the largest lake in the New York Metropolitan Area.The lake is bordered by the city of Danbury, and the towns of Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, and Sherman. Some of the most expensive real estate in the Greater Danbury area is located along the shores of the lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schaghticoke people</span> Native American tribe of the Eastern Woodlands

The Schaghticoke are a Native American tribe of the Eastern Woodlands who historically consisted of Mahican, Potatuck, Weantinock, Tunxis, Podunk, and their descendants, peoples indigenous to what is now New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The remnant tribes amalgamated in the area near the Connecticut-New York border after many losses, including the sale of some Schaghticoke and members of neighboring tribes into slavery in the Caribbean in the 1600s.

New Fairfield High School is the only public high school in New Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 500 to 700 students annually in grades 9-12 from New Fairfield, as well as students from the neighboring town of Sherman who elect to attend. The current principal of New Fairfield High School is James D'Amico.

<i>Najas minor</i> Species of aquatic plant

Najas minor, known as brittle naiad or brittle waternymph, is an annual aquatic plant, a submersed herb. It is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa from the Netherlands to Morocco east to Japan and the Philippines, including China, Siberia, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Germany, France Italy and a host of other countries. It is now introduced to North America and considered a weedy invasive species in the eastern half of the United States from Florida to Oklahoma to New Hampshire to Ontario to South Dakota. This plant prefers calm waters, such as ponds, reservoirs, and lakes, and is capable of growing in depths up to 4 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Waramaug</span> Natural lake in Warren & Washington, Connecticut

Lake Waramaug is a 656-acre (265 ha) lake occupying parts of the towns of Kent, Warren and Washington in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, approximately 24 miles (39 km) north of Danbury. The lake is named after Chief Waramaug, who wintered in the area surrounding Lake Waramaug.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Orestiada</span> Lake in Macedonia, Greece

Lake Orestiada or Lake of Kastoria is a lake in the Kastoria regional unit of Macedonia, northwestern Greece. It spreads out in a natural basin, surrounded by mountains and is the remnant of a huge ancient Miocene lake that reached an area of 164 square kilometres and at a depth of 50 meters. Sitting at an altitude of 630 metres, the lake covers an area of 28 square kilometres with a coastline that reaches 34 km. The maximum depth of the lake reaches about 9 meters and the average depth 4.5 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Well State Park</span> State park in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Indian Well State Park is a public recreation area occupying 153 acres (62 ha) on the west bank of Lake Housatonic, an impoundment of the Housatonic River, within the city limits of Shelton, Connecticut. The state park's scenic features include a 15-foot (4.6 m) horsetail waterfalls with splash pool at bottom. The park is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housatonic Range Trail</span>

The Housatonic Range Trail is a 6.2-mile (10.0 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail on Candlewood Mountain in the town of New Milford. The north-south axis of the trail parallels the Housatonic River through private land and land trust parcels. The Housatonic Range Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, which provides online Blue Trail maps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Zoar</span> Reservoir in the United States

Lake Zoar is a reservoir on the Housatonic River in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was formed by the completion of the Stevenson Dam, which flooded an area of Oxford and Stevenson named "Pleasantvale" or "Pleasant Vale". "Connecticut's Lakes Reflect Our History, Present". Retrieved 2018-04-02. The towns of Monroe, Newtown, Oxford, and Southbury border Lake Zoar. The name Zoar originates from corner of Newtown and Monroe that once called itself Zoar after the Biblical city Zoara near the Dead Sea.

Ashford Lake is a small, shallow, privately owned pond located in the eastern part of the town of Ashford in northeastern Connecticut, along the town's border with Eastford. The pond has an area of 52.6 acres and a maximum depth of approximately 12 feet. Its normal surface elevation is 659 feet above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pootatuck State Forest</span> State forest in Connecticut, US

Pootatuck State Forest is a Connecticut state forest located mainly in the town of New Fairfield with a small fraction in Sherman. Recreational activities include hiking, mountain biking, letterboxing, hunting, birdwatching, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing. The main forest property borders on and can be accessed via trails from the adjacent Squantz Pond State Park.

Lake Ann is a lake in Carver County, Minnesota, in the United States.

Waramaug succeeded Squantz in 1725 as sachem of the Potatuck Native American tribe, folded into the current Schaghticoke tribe, who lived along the length of the Housatonic River, until his death in 1735. He was succeeded as sachemship of the Potatuck after his death by one of Chief Squantz's sons, Mauwehu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Byllesby (Cannon River)</span> Reservoir on the Cannon River in Minnesota, United States

Lake Byllesby is a 1,432-acre artificial lake on the Cannon River in Dakota and Goodhue counties, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. The lake was formed as a result of construction of the Byllesby Dam by the H.M. Byllesby & Company, which would later become Northern States Power Company for hydroelectric power generation. Today, the lake serves as a popular recreational destination and is the largest lake in Southern Dakota County, approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the Twin Cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ball Pond</span> Lake in New Fairfield, Connecticut

Ball Pond is an 83-acre lake located in New Fairfield, Connecticut. It is the namesake of the CDP of the same name.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Environmental Review Team Report - Squantz Pond" (PDF). King's Mark Environmental Review Team Report. King's Mark Resource & Development Area. June 1983. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  2. "Squantz Pond State Park--Overview". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "Candlewood Lake". candlewoodlakeauthority.org. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Squantz Pond 2011". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  5. Koerting, Katrina (1 October 2019). "Lakes still want grass carp despite risks". NewsTimes. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  6. Baker, Kendra (14 July 2022). "Candlewood Lake has 'virtually zero plants' this year — a 'bizarre' change that's puzzled experts". CT Insider. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  7. "Squantz Pond State Park--Activities". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  8. "State outlaws cliff diving at Squantz Pond". NewsTimes. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  9. "Algae Forces State To Shut Squantz Pond Beach". Hartford Courant. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  10. "Beach at Squantz Pond Closed for Swimming". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  11. Baker, Kendra (29 June 2022). "Swimming at Squantz Pond in New Fairfield closed due to poor water quality". NewsTimes. Retrieved 30 September 2022.