Several environmental organizations are banding together in calling for volunteers to help remove invasive water chestnut from local ponds in the Blackstone and Ten Mile River watersheds. The events are open to all members of the community. No experience is necessary. Water chestnut has been identified in 19 locations throughout Rhode Island and at least 16 waterbodies in Massachusetts. It can impede recreational activities and cause significant economic and environmental harm. The floating plant’s foliage grows quickly and forms dense mats of vegetation that can interfere with paddling, boating, swimming, fishing, and flood storage capacity. If uncontrolled, water chestnut outcompetes native aquatic plants, jeopardizes biodiversity, alters fish and wildlife habitat, and disrupts the ecological balance of aquatic ecosystems. Volunteers can participate in water chestnut removal on the following dates in these locations: June 24, Turner Reservoir, East Providence, R.I., 9 a.m.-noon; June 24, Whitin Pond, Uxbridge, Mass., 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; June 27 and 28, Turner Reservoir, East Providence, R.I., 5-8 p.m.; and July 8, Lake Quinsigamond, Shrewsbury, Mass., 8-11 a.m. Volunteers are needed at each event to lift and carry buckets of plants on shore or to hand-pull the weed from the water by paddling kayaks and canoes. Participants are encouraged to bring their own watercraft; however, complimentary canoes and/or kayaks will be provided at most locations for a limited number of registered participants. To join any of these opportunities, volunteers need to register.