On Friday, October 2, the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Management lifted their recommendation to avoid recreation at Lower Melville Pond in Portsmouth. They said recent lab results showed low algae levels and no detected toxins. Upper Melville, which the state also calls Thurston Gray Pond, has been off the advisory list since September 2. In the same week, DEM is stocking Upper Melville with brook and rainbow trout, from October 2 through October 8.
Two clear ponds plus fresh trout at the start of October is not the usual pattern at Melville Park. DEM keeps a record of every cyanobacteria advisory it has posted. In every year from 2015 through 2025, at least one of the two Melville ponds was under an advisory on October 1. This fall, at least for now, neither pond is.
How 2026 Got Here
This year's advisories came on and off fast, and the timing explains why this week stands out.
- Late July. EastBayRI reported on July 24 that health officials had told the public to avoid recreation at the Melville ponds after an advisory issued July 21.
- September 2. RIDOH and DEM lifted the advisory at both Upper and Lower Melville after the bloom cleared.
- September 14. Lower Melville went back under an advisory. Swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking were all listed as high risk, and pet owners were told to keep animals out of the water.
- October 2. The Lower Melville advisory was lifted, and the fall trout stocking began at Upper Melville.
Lower Melville's clearance came less than three weeks after the September 14 notice. In 2024 and 2025, advisories on that pond that began in late August and mid-September either never lifted before the season ended or ran into December.
Six Years of Melville Advisories
Lower Melville had no advisories before 2020. It has had one every year since. Upper Melville has had 13 advisories since 2012. Over the last six seasons, the state's posted and lifted dates line up like this:
| Year | Lower Melville advisory | Upper Melville advisory |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Oct. 22 to Dec. 31 | Aug. 20 to Dec. 31 |
| 2021 | July 16 to Dec. 21 | July 16 to Dec. 21 |
| 2022 | July 7 to Dec. 15 | June 24 to Dec. 15 |
| 2023 | Sept. 21 to Nov. 28 | July 11 to Nov. 28 |
| 2024 | Aug. 26, not lifted by season's end | July 5 to Dec. 23 |
| 2025 | Sept. 11 to Dec. 12 | Oct. 27 to Dec. 12 |
Two rows in that table bear on this fall. In 2025, Upper Melville was clear through most of October, then went under an advisory on October 27 that lasted until December 12. In 2020, the Lower Melville advisory began on October 22. A clear pond in early October has turned into an advisory pond before Thanksgiving more than once.
The October 2 lift notice says the same thing in its own way. HAB conditions can change quickly, it says, and toxins may persist in the water after a bloom is no longer visible. The state publishes current advisories on its Cyanobacteria Tracker Dashboard at dem.ri.gov/bluegreen. That page is a better guide to this weekend at the pond than any calendar.
Why the Blooms Keep Coming Back
The ponds were not built for recreation. The US Navy originally built Upper and Lower Melville as drinking water reservoirs for Naval Station Newport. Ownership passed to the Town of Portsmouth in the 1970s. Much of the original dam, intake and outlet infrastructure remains, but in poor or non-working condition. The town later built Melville Park around the ponds, with trails, a dog park and a campground.
In October 2025, DEM environmental scientist Brian Zalewsky presented a draft Total Maximum Daily Load study for the pond system at a public workshop at Portsmouth Town Hall. It named phosphorus as the main pollutant behind the recurring blooms. DEM's figures put Upper Melville's phosphorus load at about 76 pounds a year, against an allowable 34. Lower Melville gets about 150 pounds, against an allowable 63. Zalewsky described the effect plainly:
"It creates a vicious cycle and it happens year after year. If you want to fix it, there are various treatment options but it's very expensive."
According to DEM's analysis, most of that phosphorus comes from identifiable discharge points such as stormwater outfalls. Those account for about 95 percent of the load to Upper Melville and 90 percent to Lower Melville. One source was more literal. Along Bradford Avenue, between Upper Melville and a small basin called Pond 2, DEM staff noticed an odor and visible distress in the road above a sewer line. Navy engineers then found a broken pipe that was overflowing about 400 gallons a day, and repaired it. Zalewsky said the line "could have been a source for quite some time."
The draft plan aims at the rest, and its fixes land on familiar ground. As ecoRI News reported, the plan would require stronger runoff controls from the Town of Portsmouth, Naval Station Newport and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. It would also require street sweeping and catch basin cleaning twice a year, once after the autumn leaves fall and again after the spring snowmelt. Privately owned roads at Clocktower Square and the Springfield Group neighborhood would need more frequent catch basin cleaning and sweeping too. DEM's TMDL list still shows the Melville plan as a draft. In June 2026, the state's interim-approved Aquidneck Island Watershed Plan listed both Melville ponds among the island's freshwater sites targeted for water quality restoration.
The Trout Already Had a Busy Year
This week's stocking follows a spring when Upper Melville was closed to anglers. From May 4 through July 2, DEM and RIDOH closed the pond to fishing for a study of PFAS in stocked trout. The study was run with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Roger Williams University and the Town of Portsmouth. DEM had found elevated PFAS levels in both ponds. The ponds sit near the former Melville Fuel Defense Support Point, where PFAS-containing firefighting foam was used. The study was meant to start before trout season, but the Blizzard of '26 pushed it back.
DEM described it as the first study of its kind in Rhode Island. Researchers fin-clipped stocked fish and sampled them every two weeks, along with water and sediment, to track how quickly PFAS builds up in fish tissue. Results are expected to be finalized next year. The same announcement said Lower Melville would be stocked only for Opening Day this season. That is why Upper Melville is the only one of the two on DEM's fall stocking list, which runs from Alton Pond in Richmond to Willet Pond in East Providence. RIDOH and DEM are the right places to check for any guidance on eating the fish once the findings are published.
Using the Ponds This October
Melville Park covers 130 acres off West Main Road on Bradford Avenue. These are the practical points for this month:
- Upper Melville can be reached from both its east and west sides, and there is an accessible pier on the east side. The town describes Lower Melville as "for the more adventurous."
- The trails are color-marked. The Blue trail loops Lower Melville, the Red trail branches toward the Bay, and the Yellow trail circles Pond 8. ExploreRI lists the trailhead on Smith Road, reached from Bradford Avenue past the campground, with a small lot. Dogs are allowed on leash.
- The campground is leased to a third-party operator. Its published 2026 calendar lists rustic tent camping through October 15 and off-season rates for September 14 through November 1.
- If a pond looks wrong, the signs to watch for are bright or dark green scum along the shore, or water that looks like green paint, pea soup or cottage cheese. Suspected blooms can be reported to DEM's Office of Water Resources at [email protected] or 401-222-4700.
The ponds also depend on volunteers. The Melville Park Committee looks after the trails, wildlife habitat and recreation areas. In 2025, the committee was working toward aeration bubblers for Upper Melville powered by Navy electricity. "We believe once it's up and running, it's going to clear up a lot of the problems," committee member Raymond Abraham told EastBayRI. The committee can be reached at [email protected]. URI Watershed Watch, which collects much of the long-term water quality data on the pond, said it needed new volunteer monitors for Melville. "Our current volunteers are aging out," program director Elizabeth Herron said.
DEM's 2026 routine cyanobacteria monitoring schedule includes both Upper and Lower Melville. That means the next change to either pond's status will show up on the state dashboard before anywhere else.
If your family's time in Portsmouth revolves around places like Melville Park, the trailheads, piers and seasonal rhythms are part of what we talk about with clients who own here or are considering it. ONE Residential is glad to share what we know about the island's quieter corners. Request a Private Consultation whenever it suits you.
