From the Falmouth Enterprise · June 25, 2022 · By Gilda Geist
State fish biologist Steve Hurley counted 67 wild brook trout in a May 18, 2022, survey of the Upper Childs River, up from 29 in 2021 and none at the restoration site in 2020, and found young-of-year fish showing the trout are spawning there. The Falmouth Rod & Gun Club led the restoration of former cranberry bogs beginning in 2020: crews removed a dam and problem ponds, replaced a culvert with a larger one, narrowed the river and moved it into the shade of trees. Median July water temperatures, which Hurley measured at 65 to 75 degrees from 2007 to 2020, fell below 60 degrees in 2021.
Hurley said the Childs River lost its brook trout in the 1990s as the bogs and their dams, culverts and ponds warmed the water; club member Gary Anderson added that bog fertilizer also ran into the river. Anderson said the effort began after the bog’s farmer gave up his lease in 2014; the club put $68,000 into the project, alongside town, state and federal grants and other partners. Brook trout are a native species that need cold, clean water, so their return is treated as a sign of good water quality.
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