friends of Crystal Lake: About Us
INFO@FOCL-ORLEANS.ORG
The Friends of Crystal Lake (FOCL) in Orleans, Massachusetts is a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing, and restoring the pristine water quality and shoreline habitation of Crystal Lake. We work to maintain the lake's overall ecological health to ensure its continued aesthetic enjoyment and safe recreational use. We have been continuously monitoring the quality of Crystal Lake since 2000.
Named for their inverted tea kettle shape, these ponds formed more than 18,000 years ago when the last glacial ice sheet began to retreat from the area and left blocks of ice that formed depressions as they melted. When the groundwater level rose, these isolated indents filled with freshwater and became ponds.
Today, visitors flock to Crystal Lake and Cape Cod's other fresh-water kettle ponds to swim, kayak, canoe, fish, and scuba dive. These ponds are also home to smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pickerel, perch, and trout. Crystal Lake is 1 of 60 kettle ponds located in the township of Orleans on Cape Cod. The lake, the second largest in the Orleans, consists of 36 acres, with an average depth of 20 feet and a maximum depth of 45 feet. The lake has approximately one mile of shoreline, heavily wooded with some light residential development.
What We Do
We are citizen volunteers and advocacy group that helps oversee the quality of Crystal Lake's water through third-party water sampling, as well as works towards creating and promoting policies to restore and maintain that quality.
Crystal Lake is one of several ponds that is sampled regularly throughout the year. In particular, our local agencies measure levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which are major contributors towards Crystal Lake's water degradation. We also work with the Town of Orleans to promote interim and long-term policies designed to support the recommendations put forth by the Crystal Lake Management Plan and Diagnostic Assessment report (September 2020), as well as with other agencies who are working to solve similar problems for Orlean's lakes, ponds, and estuaries.
Why We Do It
We monitor Crystal Lake because our lake, like other lakes and ponds on Cape Cod, are experiencing water quality degradation caused by increased nutrient loads associated with shoreline development. Basically, kettle ponds lack a surface water inlet or outlet. Instead, the sandy sides of these ponds allow a steady inflow and outflow of water to and from the adjacent aquifer. This aquifer is Cape's only source of drinking water. Therefore, if you introduce any type of pollutant (even biodegradable soap) to a pond, for example, it will degrade it. So will swimming in a pond after swimming in the ocean, if the salt is not rinsed off first.
A major source of phosphorous entering the system is due to antiquated septic systems or wastes from humans or pets in or near the pond also fertilize it. If people trample plants near the pond edge, soil is eroded into the pond. All these activities can cause a nutrient overflow, causing the overgrowth of algae and toxic bright-green cyanobacteria algae blooms -- all of which impair or degrade the ponds further and impacting fish and wildlife.
How You Can Help
We are a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. There are two ways you can help: Become a member of the Friends of Crystal Lake Orleans, or make a one-time or recurring donation.
All membership dues and donations go towards these ongoing activities:
Named for their inverted tea kettle shape, these ponds formed more than 18,000 years ago when the last glacial ice sheet began to retreat from the area and left blocks of ice that formed depressions as they melted. When the groundwater level rose, these isolated indents filled with freshwater and became ponds.
Today, visitors flock to Crystal Lake and Cape Cod's other fresh-water kettle ponds to swim, kayak, canoe, fish, and scuba dive. These ponds are also home to smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pickerel, perch, and trout. Crystal Lake is 1 of 60 kettle ponds located in the township of Orleans on Cape Cod. The lake, the second largest in the Orleans, consists of 36 acres, with an average depth of 20 feet and a maximum depth of 45 feet. The lake has approximately one mile of shoreline, heavily wooded with some light residential development.
What We Do
We are citizen volunteers and advocacy group that helps oversee the quality of Crystal Lake's water through third-party water sampling, as well as works towards creating and promoting policies to restore and maintain that quality.
Crystal Lake is one of several ponds that is sampled regularly throughout the year. In particular, our local agencies measure levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which are major contributors towards Crystal Lake's water degradation. We also work with the Town of Orleans to promote interim and long-term policies designed to support the recommendations put forth by the Crystal Lake Management Plan and Diagnostic Assessment report (September 2020), as well as with other agencies who are working to solve similar problems for Orlean's lakes, ponds, and estuaries.
Why We Do It
We monitor Crystal Lake because our lake, like other lakes and ponds on Cape Cod, are experiencing water quality degradation caused by increased nutrient loads associated with shoreline development. Basically, kettle ponds lack a surface water inlet or outlet. Instead, the sandy sides of these ponds allow a steady inflow and outflow of water to and from the adjacent aquifer. This aquifer is Cape's only source of drinking water. Therefore, if you introduce any type of pollutant (even biodegradable soap) to a pond, for example, it will degrade it. So will swimming in a pond after swimming in the ocean, if the salt is not rinsed off first.
A major source of phosphorous entering the system is due to antiquated septic systems or wastes from humans or pets in or near the pond also fertilize it. If people trample plants near the pond edge, soil is eroded into the pond. All these activities can cause a nutrient overflow, causing the overgrowth of algae and toxic bright-green cyanobacteria algae blooms -- all of which impair or degrade the ponds further and impacting fish and wildlife.
How You Can Help
We are a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. There are two ways you can help: Become a member of the Friends of Crystal Lake Orleans, or make a one-time or recurring donation.
All membership dues and donations go towards these ongoing activities:
- Ensure that third-party water testing is conducted regularly for Crystal Lake
- Implement timely interim solutions to reduce nutrient overflow and algae blooms
- Coordinate with other local agencies working on similar problems across Orlean's lakes, ponds, and estuaries
- Advocate policies with the Town of Orleans to pass both interim and long-term policies to restore and protect Crystal Lake
Donate to Preserve
Hello friends. Consider making a one-time or recurring donation, or even becoming a Member of Friends of Crystal Lake, Orleans.
We are a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. All donations and dues go towards our
ongoing activities to restore and protect Crystal Lake for everyone.
We are a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. All donations and dues go towards our
ongoing activities to restore and protect Crystal Lake for everyone.