paradise pond is a staple feature of the smith college campus in central massachusetts. but it wasn’t always there.

some form of a dammed mill river has existed since the mid-1600s to harness water power, but the pond we see today is due to a dam built in 1940 as part of northampton’s federal flood control system. the basin itself is shallow and was never meant to hold a still body of water — the continuous flow from upstream is regulated by the dam, but it still drags sediment that must be removed, or dredged out, to keep the pond a pond.

currently, dredging takes place every winter between november and april. the process begins when a gate at the bottom of the dam is opened to drain the pond, exposing the sediment beneath. in 2021, gary hartwell and robert newton introduced the current plan, which “redirect[s] the mill river by carving a narrow channel in the pond bed.”

despite years of grueling experimentation, which began in 2008, aimed at optimizing dredging, the process remains costly. each winter, facilities and hired workers must carve a new path to help the river sculpt and carry away silt, a massive undertaking that costs $30,000. and still, for months, the pond is nothing but an empty basin of mud and dirt.

before paradise pond was created, the area had been part of the mill river watershed for over 10,000 years. in that time, it created an inland wetland habitat unique to the state of massachusetts. species such as trout, great blue herons, and the endangered dwarf wedgemussel call this place home. but when we look out at paradise pond, the water seems almost barren. the seasonal draining, dredging, and refilling of the water feature is to blame.

“the removal of bottom sediment ‘restarts’ the ecological system every single winter,” said landscape studies professor reid bertone-johnson. permanent water-reliant species populations cannot be established.

marney pratt, ph.d., a professor of biological sciences, said that annual dredging destroys the habitats of macroinvertebrates (insect nymphs or larvae), which live within the bottom layer of organic matter, such as dragonfly larvae. but it’s the larger organisms who suffer most. fish and aquatic plants cannot establish populations within the pond. beavers, exposed to predators during the dredging process, panic, cut down trees, and attempt to rebuild dams along the riverbank. pratt notes that native mussel species depend on fish to transport their larvae upstream. the pond blocks this process, causing existing populations to age out and disappear.

proponents for the restoration of the pond to its original state advocate for something called rewilding, which is the process of restoring a land area to its natural and uncultivated state. “rewilding paradise pond would fall directly in line with smith’s values,” gaby immerman, a biology professor, said.

bertone-johnson and immerman cite three options for this process. the first simple solution is to stop the annual dredging and allow the sediment to accumulate. the second is partially removing the dam, while the third would remove it completely. this concept has been incorporated into smith’s 2022 landscape master plan, which illustrates the idea of replacing the dam down to bedrock with a natural rock cascade.

the outcome of any rewilding solution would be relatively similar. all three processes would halt dredging and allow sediment to build up over time, establishing a wetland environment with a stream running through it. this outcome would resemble areas further upstream of paradise pond — “where the river flows like it naturally would, over rocks, with trees along the banks and pools of water,” bertone-johnson said.

the benefit of transforming a pond into an interim wetland is that these environments have a great capacity to absorb excess water, while also providing a natural habitat for organisms living there. a partial or complete removal of the dam would lower average water levels, but allow for a significant increase in fish passage. these methods would enable a large stretch of river to be made available again for fish, extending as far south as the long island sound, thereby bringing back populations that migrate from oceans to rivers for spawning, such as the vulnerable river herring and american shad.

the first hurdle towards any one of these changes is that smith college needs permission to stop dredging. this process, along with the dam, is part of the northampton flood control system, which is a crucial component of the town’s infrastructure.

due to the scale of this proposed change, the u.s. army corps of engineers would have to conduct engineering studies and evaluate any negative impacts rewilding could have on communities both upstream and downstream. while the required engineering studies are estimated to cost around $1 million, the cost would be covered by state environmental grants, not smith’s own operating budget, according to bertone-johnson.

rewilding of this area would also create a whole range of possibilities for education and cultural enrichment. the landscape master plan includes these, marking areas for expanding opportunities to be within natural landscapes, and creating outdoor learning spaces for smith’s community. bertone-johnson suggests that if this plan were to go through, one of the first structures built after a successful rewilding would be a boardwalk winding through new wetlands.

paradise pond is long overdue for an ecological makeover that aligns with the values of smith college. with the concept laid out in the landscape master plan, there’s a chance that within the next two decades, the pit we call paradise will be restored to its natural state.