Wilcox Pond

Wilcox Pond in Wilcox Park is a manmade freshwater pond created by using a natural depression and originally fed by a local abandoned stone quarry. Freshwater ponds in this region often begin as open water and gradually accumulate debris and wildlife, frequently becoming marshes and bogs over time. This pond requires routine maintenance, including annual cleaning to remove decaying matter, aeration through a fountain, replenishment of water lost to evaporation with a clean water source, periodic removal of invasive plants such as Eurasian watermilfoil, and snow removal for ice skating; the center of the pond is 6 feet deep. The pond’s native aquatic plants provide food for waterfowl and wildlife, protect small fish and create spawning habitats, serve as refuges for zooplankton, and oxygenate the water. Its plant life includes pink and white American waterlilies, Yellow Pond Lily, purple-flowered pickerelweed, and tall cattails that filter the water and stabilize the pond bottom, while turtles, fish, and waterfowl live there and are healthiest when they forage on their own.

Westerly, Rhode Island · United States