Staffordville Reservoir, Stafford Springs - 2012

Staffordville Reservoir is a 149-acre lake located in Stafford Springs, CT. The south and east shoreline are more heavily developed than the north and west shoreline where it is thickly wooded. A public beach is located in the southern end of the lake.

The 2012 CAES IAPP survey was a resurvey, the first survey in 2005. In both surveys Staffordville Reservoir was found to be species rich. In 2012, two more species of plants were found than in 2005: 29 vs. 27. Although no invasive species were present in 2005, Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa), an invasive, was found in 2012. It was the only invasive species found. It was found growing thickly in both the southern cove and the northern portion of the lake. 

The most species dense area of the lake was the northern cove. Here, similar to 2005, floating-leaved plants such as watershield (Brasenia schreberi), yellow water lily (Nuphar variegata), and white water lily (Nymphaea odorata) dominated the upper half of the cove. Various native bladderwort species (Utricularia) were also growing with the floating plants. The lower half of the cove was dominated by the natives marsh mermaid weed (Proserpinaca palustris) and eelgrass (Vallisneria americana). Various shoreline species were growing around the perimeter of the cove.

The long eastern shoreline was more populated than the western shoreline. Most of the shoreline was occupied by the low growing natives golden hedge-hyssop (Gratiola aurea) and arrowhead (Sagittaria species). The southern shore of the lake had diverse, abundant growths of much of the plants that were found in the survey. This differs from the 2005 survey where little patches of a few plants were found. Overall, Staffordville Reservoir is supporting a large amount of aquatic vegetation that is occupying more of the littoral zone than the 2005 survey revealed.