Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Massachusetts
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Massachusetts Project

Investigating Impacts of Winter Lake Drawdowns on Littoral Ecosystems

January 2013 - December 2019

Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • Water Resources Annual Institute Program through the Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center
  • Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
Goose Pond (Tyringham, MA) undergoing a winter drawdown

In Massachusetts, there are about 200 small reservoirs that are drawn down in the fall and refilled in the spring as an approach to kill aquatic vegetation. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is interested in understanding the effects of these drawdowns on fish and wildlife that use the lakes. The project will begin with a literature review of the effects of lake drawdowns on fish and wildlife, and an assessment of the scope (location, timing, amount, rate, etc.) of drawdowns in Massachusetts. This will be followed by a field project assessing the impacts of drawdowns on lake fauna.

Research Publications Publication Date
Carmignani, J.R. and A.H. Roy. 2017. Ecological impacts of winter lake drawdowns on lake littoral zones: A review. Aquatic Sciences 79:803-824. DOI 10.1007/s00027-017-0549-9 | Download July 2017
Carmignani, J.R., A.H. Roy, P.D. Hazelton, and H. Giard. 2019. Annual winter water level drawdowns limit shallow-water mussel densities in small lakes. Freshwater Biology 64:1519-1533. DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13324 | Publisher Website June 2019
Presentations Presentation Date
Carmignani, J.R. and A.H. Roy. 2014. Ecological impacts of winter water level drawdowns on lake littoral zone communities: a review. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting, 18-22 May 2014, Portland, OR. May 2014
Carmignani, J.R. and A.H. Roy. 2014. Examining effects of winter water level drawdowns on fish populations in New England lakes. Annual Meeting of the New England Association of Environmental Biologists, 26-28 March 2014, Burlington, VT. March 2014
Carmignani, J. and A.H. Roy. 2015. Do annual winter drawdowns alter the physical habitat structure and complexity of the littoral zone? New England Association of Environmental Biologists, 18-20 March 2015, Bartlett, NH. March 2015
Carmignani, J. and A.H. Roy. 2015. Do annual winter lake drawdowns alter the physical habitat structure and complexity of shallow littoral zones? Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science, 17-21 May 2015, Milwaukee, WI. May 2015
Parker, L., M. Craddock, T. Richards, A. Roy, and M. Cole. 2015. Poor little Pecks Brook: Balancing lake goals and downstream needs in an urban watershed. Flow 2015: 28-30 April 2015. April 2015
Carmignani, J. and A.H. Roy. 2016. Impact of winter drawdowns on mussel distributions in Massachusetts (USA) lakes. Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science, 21-25 May 2016, Sacramento, CA. May 2016
Carmignani, J., A.H. Roy, and K. Stankiewicz. 2016. Freshwater mussel distribution in shallow depths of winter drawdown lakes. New England Association of Environmental Biologists, 23-25 March 2016, Rockland, ME. March 2016
Stankiewicz, K., J. Carmignani, and A.H. Roy. 2016. Hydrologic characteristics of annual winter water-level drawdowns in Massachusetts lakes. New England Association of Environmental Biologists. 23-25 March 2016, Rockland, ME. March 2016
Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Carmignani, J.R. 2020. Investigating the effects of winter drawdowns on the ecological character of littoral zones in Massachusetts lakes. PhD Dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA February 2020