LEVERETT — Herbicides to control invasive vegetation on Leverett Pond have been deployed since the mid-1990s, and similar chemical treatment is again included in the latest annual management plan submitted to the Conservation Commission.

While the plan calls for the continued use of herbicides on 8 acres of the 102-acre body of water, with mechanical weeding on an additional 4 acres and the possibility of adding a winter pond level drawdown of 3 feet , some residents are asking more questions about the strategy that has been used for more than a quarter century.

With a decision looming possibly later this month on a notice of intent submitted by the Friends of Leverett Pond, for a five-year order of conditions as a limited ecological restoration project, the Conservation Commission recently received a letter from residents expressing concern about the use of treatment chemicals that may violate both Town Meeting actions and community values.

“It’s time for Leverett to take a phased approach to Eurasian watermilfoil control, using modern data and integrated pest management techniques,” the letter reads. “This should be done before any other approaches are used, including winter drawdowns and herbicides.”

For the Friends group, made up of people who live along the pond and others who use the site for recreational activities such as ice skating and ice fishing in the winter and kayaking in the summer, the Ecological restoration, developed by SWCA Environmental Consultants of Amherst, was one strategy to keep the pond habitat healthy.

“We hope the commission recognizes the value of approving all aspects of the management plan, including winter drawdown, an alternative non-herbicidal weed management practice that is currently used on many watermilfoil-infested lakes in Massachusetts,” said Tom Hankinson, the group’s chairman who is also a member of the Select Board.

Hankinson said managing the lake through the notice of intent not only serves to control aggressive and invasive aquatic weeds, but is also an integrated pest management plan.

“The Friends of Leverett Pond take the stewardship of Leverett Pond seriously and seek long-term solutions to provide excellent water quality and habitat improvements for wildlife and fisheries, while combating an attack of invasive plant species invading the pond,” SWCA’s Mickey Marcus wrote in a letter to the commission.

The commission then meets on Monday, where it could make a decision.

Although the commission has approved similar plans for several years, member Jono Neiger said more concerns were arising this time around about the practice and how best to monitor the situation.

In a memo he submitted to his colleagues, Neiger questions whether it’s appropriate to keep waterfront properties clear of vegetation, so those residents have access to them for their personal use.

“The shoreline landowner group, Friends of Leverett Pond, is not the best group to manage the pond,” Neiger wrote. “There is a clear conflict of interest between the desire for clear, free water in front of homes and the ecology of larger ponds.”

For resident Patricia Duffy, who lives near the old landfill and is one of a handful of homeowners who will get municipal water from Amherst after groundwater was contaminated by pollutants from the dump, it makes sense to take a step back from the pond management plan.

“Because this issue is important to so many people and has become controversial, it would be best if our community could have dialogue, transparency and objective scientific reporting,” Duffy said.

Duffy also points to Leverett State’s refusal not to spray mosquitoes and a recently identified PFAS hotspot in groundwater in North Leverett, as reasons to be more cautious before approving the plans.

“We all want a healthy lake,” Duffy said. “But we all need to be concerned about the long-term effects of pesticides/herbicides, which often contain PFAS, the eternal chemical.”

Other aspects of the pond management plan include the use of a hydrorake to stem the growth of vegetation which is part of the natural eutrophication of the pond, the process by which it s gradually enriches with minerals and nutrients. Without control, the pond would continue to fill and turn into a swamp.

The use of a drawdown, which could impact the private wells of nearby homes, had not been possible until Friends rebuilt the dam in recent years. This allows the water level to be slowly lowered, eventually exposing up to 30 acres of the pond and killing invasive plants through a winter freeze before the pond refills.

Even with the pond’s large amount of vegetation, indicators show the pond is in perfect health and, compared to other similar ponds, its fish are doing better in size and numbers, Neiger said.

“There is no other evidence that fish are suffering from aquatic vegetation,” Neiger said.

Scott Merzbach can be contacted at [email protected]