A swan, on Old Mill Pond, is hurting, or so it seems to me.

A public meeting to discuss the recent Mill Brook watershed report in West Tisbury saw wide-ranging discussion Monday.

High water temperatures, water diversion and inflated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus all threaten the Mill Brook river system, a report concludes.

About 50 people gathered Sunday to commemorate the Mill Pond, a symbol of West Tisbury and a reminder of the town’s origins.

West Tisbury animal control officer Joan Jenkinson told selectmen Wednesday that the birds on Mill Pond leave the pond too often, threatening their safety.

A spirit of collaboration prevailed Monday evening at a forum that begins a yearlong study of the Mill Brook watershed. The 3,700-acre watershed includes the historic, much-discussed Mill Pond near the center of town.

The iconic and much-debated pond comes back into the spotlight this week as the town prepares to begin a one-year watershed study. A series of public forums begins tonight in the West Tisbury Library.

There are certainly times where removing a dam is biologically sound and the right thing to do, but it’s totally irrelevant at the Mill Pond site. We need that beautiful pond as it is.

I remember driving to church from Chilmark to Vineyard Haven with my family when I was a young boy and one of my favorite highlights was driving by the Mill Pond.