Water Closet for July 8, 2016

[pullquote]”We decided to enter summer by digging for clams a couple hours and then resting while admiring the sun setting and a full moon rising.”[/pullquote]Often en route to the Ipswich clam flats from Middleton to Plum Island Sound we sing the praises of heaven only half an hour away from home. The estuary is a wondrous meeting place of fresh water, undulating sea, dunes, cricks, tidal flats and salt marshes. On Monday, June 20, we checked the tide table and found low would be at 6:30, two hours before sunset and moon rise, and at the same time as the Summer Solstice when from the Earth’s perspective the sun stops going north and slowly trends southward.

Western sky a few minutes before sunset on the evening of Summer Solstice, June 20, 2016. Note one of two Ipswich wind turbines waving good bye. – Judy Schneider photo

We decided to enter summer by digging for clams a couple hours and then resting while admiring the sun setting and a full moon rising. From Eagle Hill flat we stared at the clouds making an appearance on a western stage to dramatize the sun’s farewell. Things all came together as the clouds blushed spectacularly in a flaming reds “good night.” We stood in awe until remembering the moon behind Great Neck. After a four minute car ride our small group arrived at Pavilion Beach where a sharply outlined full yellow-orange moon rose in a cloudless sky off the shoulder of Steep Hill above the ocean beyond Crane Beach and Plum Island Point. The sea was calm, the air clear and dry. We enjoyed another half-hour with lots of light; and memories forever of the evening’s sights.
The clams in each person’s basket were forgotten and would two days later at table seem but frosting on the cake. A productive low tide, the beginning of summer, a fiery sunset, and a sedate moon rising above beaches and lush green hills were all ours within three hours. We hadn’t died yet were in heaven for a while. The best part may be knowing that until we do die we might visit yet again. Each time with an infinite combination of variables it will be different.
The unknown variables that bother are those that have led to predictions of global warming and subsequent sea rise. Scientists say both phenomena are proceeding at disturbing rates. On Thursday June 23^rd in an article on its front page, the Boston Globe summarized the latest predictions which have rises of 1 to 3 meters by 2100.* If that happens the barrier beach called Plum Island will be but an off-shore bar. The unprotected salt marshes of soft peat will erode away. The Necks, Great and Little, and Castle and Steep Hill will be islands. The Ipswich Town landing may be under water even at low tide. If a full 3-meter rise, more than 30% of Boston will be covered. We recommend you travel northeast to the highs and lows of Jeffreys Road from downtown Ipswich to North Ridge and Plover Hill, Great Neck, and Little Neck, Ipswich. The marshes crossed over on causeways and Pavilion Beach will be under water if predictions come to past. Eagle Hill will be a tiny island with maybe a house or two. The salt marshes flanking the Ipswich and Eagle rivers will be gone. Plum Island River and Plum Island Sound will be part of the Atlantic. Ocean front will be in back of the businesses of Ipswich Center. The view from North Ridge will still be quite a sight, but without broad flats, salt marshes, and barrier beaches, more like those from a coastal hill in Down East Maine. Much of eastern and northern Newburyport and half of Salisbury, portals to the Merrimack River, will be under water.

Full moon rising on a clear sky above Cape Ann, Steep Hill and Crane Beach Ipswich. – Judy Schneider photo

Who would have ever thought in fourth grade geography all we old timers took that the melting Greenland and Antarctic continental glaciers would determine the fates of Massachusetts Bay’s heavenly estuaries, the playgrounds of us coastal kids.
* “Report finds city facing peril from ocean: Impact of climate change could be much worse than researchers say” by David Abel. June 23, 2016 Boston Globe, page A1
______________________________________________________________________________WATER RESOURCE AND CONSERVATION INFORMATION
FOR MIDDLETON, BOXFORD AND TOPSFIELD`

Ipswich R. Flow Rate (S. Middleton USGS Gage) in Cubic Feet/ Second (CFS):
For July 4, 2016  Normal . . . 13 CFS     Current Rate . . . 1.1 CFS
*Danvers Water Filtration Plant, Lake Street, Middleton is the source for actual precipitation data thru May.
** Middleton Stream Team is the source of actual precipitation data for June and July
Normals data is from the National Climatic Data Center.
THE WATER CLOSET is provided by the Middleton Stream Team: www.middletonstreamteam.org or         <MSTMiddletonMA@gmail.com> or (978) 777-4584