Carlisle NRC Approves Sudbury River Water Chestnut Herbicide Project, Advances Walden Pond Work

CARLISLE — April 22, 2026 — Carlisle's Natural Resources Commission cleared a new neighbor-led water chestnut herbicide project on the Sudbury River and moved to finalize a sand-placement amendment at Walden Pond at its April 22 meeting. The commission voted unanimously to close the hearing on a Notice of Intent filed by a group of Sudbury River property owners, led by Paul McGin of 95 Coolidge Road, whose three-year herbicide treatment plan picks up where an adjacent Concord Land Conservation Trust project ends and extends downstream to just short of the Concord Railroad bridge; an order of conditions will be issued at the May 13 meeting, with annual reporting required as a special condition. The commission also unanimously authorized a $12,500 third-party hydraulic peer review — funded by the applicant, the Concord Land Conservation Trust — for a proposed boardwalk through the Spencer Brook floodway at 107X Lowell Road, a prerequisite for the building commissioner to issue a no-rise determination under MGL Chapter 44, Section 53G. On the Walden Pond bathhouse project, DCR wetland scientist Matt Burn of BSC Group presented a sand-placement amendment, with DCR targeting a Memorial Day opening for the new facility; the commission agreed to close and issue an amended order of conditions at May 13.