The siphoned Foster Woods pond; photo courtesy of Steve Anderson

With no water in the pond, Washington County Conservation Director Steve Anderson admits now might not be the most ideal time to visit Foster Woods County Park. The 18 acre park is southwest of Wellman, and the conservation board has kicked off an improvement project aimed at making the park a more attractive destination. Anderson says the project began with a logging operation that finished recently, where 39 trees were removed because they conflicted with the health of the pond. As an added bonus, they were able to gain $2,200 in revenue from selling the lumber. That money will contribute to the overall project cost, which is approximately $60,000, though 90% of the funds are provided by a recently approved grant from the Fish Habitat Stamp Fund.

Once the grant was approved, the conservation board moved to the next phase of the remodel, which was to siphon 3,000,000 gallons of water out of the pond. Anderson says the siphoning took about five days. He explains, “When we drained the pond, it showed you just how badly that it needed it. There was only one largemouth bass in the whole thing, and he was 10-inches long. We had three grass carp, and all the rest were trash fish. It’s an excellent indicator that, ‘Yeah, we’re right!’” The next phase of the project is to bring in a contractor to work on reconstructing the pond. Anderson says the pond should be complete and stocked with new fish this year, though the rest of the plans for park improvements will continue into the coming years.