Medford Conservation Commission Approves Winchester Dam Order, Requires 49 Replacement Trees

MEDFORD -- November 29, 2023, Medford Conservation Commission unanimously approved an order of conditions for the Town of Winchester's South Reservoir Dam rehabilitation, requiring the planting of approximately 49 replacement trees for 147 to be removed. The 4-0 vote, taken at the commission's November 29 meeting on DEP file 215-0235, sets a one-to-three replanting ratio modeled on the commission's own 2015 order for earlier work on the same dam, when 8 trees were replanted for 28 removed. Between 8 and 10 of the replacement trees must be planted within the invasive species removal envelope near Smelt Brook; the remainder will be placed at locations across Medford directed by the city's tree warden. The order also requires the applicant to submit an invasive species management plan, targeting bittersweet and possibly Japanese knotweed along Smelt Brook and the water treatment plant access road, for commission review and approval before construction begins, with any herbicide use restricted to Massachusetts-licensed applicators.