Current
Projects
Boston Harbor Watershed
Protection - On-line
This past summer, the Watershed Association
began to work with a committee of institutions, organizations
and state government agencies to produce an on-line,
interactive, digital map of Boston Harbor and its watershed
lands. The Digital Coastal Habitat Atlas will represent the
characteristics and quality of coastal habitats in the Boston
Harbor region, and identify and prioritize sites for
ecological restoration. The Atlas also will indicate how to
access natural resources data. The Atlas will cover the land
and waters of Boston, Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth,
Hingham, Hull, Swampscott, Nahant, Lynn, Saugus, Revere,
Winthrop, Chelsea and Everett. The project steering committee,
consisting of Urban Harbors Institute of the University of
Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts Bays Program, NepRWA, and
the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, recently
convened a meeting of potential Atlas-users and data-providers
to introduce the project and gain feedback. Attendees included
town conservation commissions; the state Departments of
Ecological Restoration, Marine Fisheries, Environmental
Protection, and Conservation and Recreation; river watershed
associations; the MWRA; U-Mass Boston Green Harbor Project;
EPA Region 1; Save the Harbor / Save the Bay; National Park
Service; The Nature Conservancy; Mass Audubon; Metropolitan
Area Planning Council; MassPort; National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center; and Metro
Boston universities and colleges, among others. Dubbed the
Boston Harbor Habitat Coalition, this diverse group will help
to shape the Atlas into its most usable and useful form. Learn
more about this project by contacting Restoration Manager
Carly Rocklen at 781-575-0354 x303 or rocklen@neponset.org.
(Update:
September 2010)
Easing
Migration for Aquatic Wildlife
The
Neponset River Watershed Association continues to seek
opportunities to improve the navigability of local streams for
fish and other aquatic wildlife. NepRWA Volunteers survey
culverts on local brooks, and NepRWA Staff visit small dams,
to enable future small dam removals and culvert replacements. Learn
more. Contact NepRWA Restoration Manager Carly Rocklen to
report any small dams on your property that might be removed (rocklen@neponset.org,
781-575-0354 x303).
Tracking
Detergent to Find Sewage Pollution!
NepRWA
Environmental Scientist Bill Guenther has been tracking
detergents in the streams of the Neponset River Watershed, to
find sources of sewage pollution. Learn
the connection.
Cleaning
Stormwater in Canton, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole & Dedham
With
the support of grant funding, five Neponset Watershed towns
have hired NepRWA to
site potential stormwater-cleaning structural "BMPs"
(Best Management Practices). Learn more about these structures.
Contact project manager Bill Guenther, NepRWA Environmental, at 781-575-0354 x306 or guenther@neponset.org.
This project has been financed partially with
Federal Funds from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
(the Department) under a s. 604(b) Water Quality Management
Planning Grant. (Update:
September 2010)
Promoting Water
Conservation
Since
the winter of 2007, the Town of Sharon and NepRWA have partnered to
facilitate a grant from the MA Department of Environmental
Protection to implement a town-wide water conservation program. Nancy Fyler,
NepRWA Water Conservation Coordinator, organizes the program. Nancy has
developed a water conservation
curriculum within the Sharon schools, met with civic
groups, boards and committees, written water conservation
articles for the local newspaper, and promoted water
conservation through a new website and various other outreach
tools. The success of the Water Conservation Program in Sharon
led NepRWA to partner with the Towns of Walpole and Milton in similar water
conservation programs. Learn more about the water conservation
program by visiting www.sharonwater.com
or contacting Nancy Fyler at 781-575-0354 x307 or fyler@neponset.org.
(Update:
September 2010)
Restoring
Local Wetlands through Biological Control
NepRWA
is working to restore
damaged wetlands in the Neponset River Watershed using a
biological control method to reduce the presence of the
exotic, invasive perennial plant "Purple
loosestrife." During the spring and summer of 2008, NepRWA
began a five-year Purple loosestrife biocontrol project
based in the Fowl Meadow and at Brookwood Farm in the Blue
Hills Reservation, partnering with the MA Dept. of Conservation and
Recreation and with the guidance of the MA Coastal Zone
Management Wetland Restoration Program. Come volunteer for
this project! Learn
more.
Modifying
& Removing 2 Dams to Restore the River
Historically,
the Neponset River supported healthy (and remarkable!) spring runs of
herring, shad, smelt and other anadromous and catadromous
fish species. However, the runs nearly have been eliminated since
the river was dammed for waterpower. If fish could get past the two most downstream
dams on the Neponset—the Baker Dam in Lower Mills (Milton/Dorchester
town line) and the T&H Dam in Hyde Park—they could access
more than 17 miles of habitat. Just imagine how
re-establishing a flux of diverse fish and other aquatic
animals to our river could rehabilitate our local wildlife -
and the quality of human life along the river?! NepRWA has been advocating for the
modification of these two dams, to restore water flow and
fish passage, working with the MA Department of
Conservation and Recreation, the MA Division of
Ecological Restoration (formerly the Riverways Program of the
MA Department of Fish and Game), the US Army
Corps of Engineers, and local civic associations. Learn
more. Or, for further
information, contact Ian Cooke, Executive Director, at cooke@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Planning
the Quincy
Riverwalk
For
several years, now, NepRWA has been working to develop a
multi-use trail and boat access to the Neponset River
Estuary along the Quincy riverbank. Learn more.
Contact project manager Steve Pearlman, NepRWA Advocacy Director, at pearlman@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354 x304.
Organizing
the Citizen
Water Monitoring Network ("CWMN")
CWMN
is NepRWA’s volunteer-based water quality monitoring
program. CWMN collects water quality data on the river and
its tributaries to determine the overall quality of the
river system, to locate and prioritize water quality
"hot spots," to design water quality improvement
projects, and to evaluate the effectiveness of past water
quality restoration efforts. CWMN brings together a wide
array of resources from volunteers, the private sector,
local state and federal agencies and donors. Volunteers
record observational data and field measurements and collect
water samples. NepRWA and various laboratories then assess
the water samples, and the data generated are reported back
to the volunteers and to the Federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the MA Department of Environmental
Protection (Mass DEP), local municipalities and other
interested parties.
Learn more here,
or contact Bill Guenther, Environmental Scientist,
at guenther@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Protecting
Local Waterways into the Future
If
there is policy in the works or land development in discussion
that will affect the health of local waterways, NepRWA
Advocacy Director Steve Pearlman is probably involved! Contact
Steve to learn more or report news at 781-575-0354 x304 or pearlman@neponset.org.
Neponset Reports, Comment Letters & Newsletters
Six
times each year, NepRWA publishes a newsletter that we mail
to our membership and colleagues. The newsletter includes descriptions of
projects, environmental legislation updates, event listings,
volunteer opportunities, and more.
NepRWA posts comment letters, reports and water-testing
data. Learn more by contacting Carly Rocklen,
Outreach Director and Restoration Manager, at rocklen@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Past
Projects
Keeping
Pine Tree Brook Clean
In
the Pine Tree Brook watershed of Milton, around Kelly Field
and the Pierce Middle School on Brook Rd., NepRWA, the Town of
Milton and a corps of Volunteers applied catchbasin decals to
catchbasins and tree-filter-boxes in early autumn 2009. The
decals are meant to educate passersby about the importance of
keeping litter and other pollutants out of these catchbasins,
which send street runoff directly into Pine Tree Brook. As a
part of this project, the Town of Milton also posted
pick-up-after-your-dog signs in the same neighborhood. See pictures
of the catchbasin decal applications (click on the
thumbnails at the right side of the webpage)! Questions?
Contact NepRWA Outreach Director and Restoration Manager Carly
Rocklen at 781-575-0354 x303, rocklen@neponset.org.
Installing Tree-Filter
Boxes
NepRWA
and the Town of Milton partnered to install tree-filter-boxes
around town to treat polluted stormwater runoff from streets.
Tree-filter-boxes use the same technology as a bioretention
cell, but are prefabricated and easy to install with little
or no permitting. Each box consists of a precast concrete
box filled with a specialized mix of soil and an appropriate
tree or shrub. The box is installed at the curb-line, right
along the gutter, just uphill of an existing catchbasin.
Learn more by contacting Ian Cooke, Executive Director, at cooke@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Westwood
Station
NepRWA
worked with the developers of Westwood Station to integrate
water conservation, stormwater treatment, and groundwater
recharge measures into the development's building plans. Learn
more about this effort and its outcome by contacting NepRWA
Advocacy Director Steve Pearlman at pearlman@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354 x304.
Dealing
with Infiltration
& Inflow: Fixing the Leaks!
NepRWA
completed a Municipal Handbook entitled Minimizing
Municipal Costs for Infiltration & Inflow (I/I)
Remediation for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy
& Environmental Affairs. "Infiltration" refers
to groundwater that seeps into cracked sewer pipes.
"Inflow" refers to illegal stormwater connections
to sanitary sewers. "I/I" not only costs sewer
ratepayers millions of dollars, it also can cause overflows
of sewers into streets and wetlands during rainstorms. MWRA
estimates that I/I diverts an annual average of 6.6 billion
gallons of water per year from the upper Neponset River
Watershed to Boston Harbor via the Deer Island Treatment
Plant. View this handbook.
Learn more by contacting Steve Pearlman, Advocacy
Director, at pearlman@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354 x304.
See
pictures of NepRWA's
last river cleanup.
Protecting
Buckmaster Pond
NepRWA
worked to conserve the ecosystem of Buckmaster Pond in
Westwood by working with concerned Westwood residenets against
a possible draw-down by the Town of Norwood in preparation for
the Pond to serve as a secondary water supply. Learn more
about this effort by contacting NepRWA Executive Director Ian
Cooke at 781-575-0354 x305 or cooke@neponset.org.
Educating
Watershed Residents About Septic
System Maintenance
NepRWA
and the Walpole Board of Health have been working together
to keep local water clean through proper septic system
maintenance. As a part of this project, a public education
program was initiated concerning septic system maintenance,
and the possibility of a town-wide septic utility was
reviewed. Why the focus on septic systems? Septic systems
act like water-recyclers, treating wastewater from our homes
and returning it to local groundwater. Problems occur,
however, when septic systems are not properly maintained –
for example, when a homeowner waits too many years to
schedule a pump-out of the septic tank. A septic system that has been neglected
can contaminate local water with untreated sewage, creating
a public health hazard and an ecological mess. Learn more
about septic system maintenance here,
contact
your local Board of Health, or find a septic hauler in the
phonebook. Questions? Contact Carly Rocklen, Outreach
Director and Restoration Manager, at rocklen@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354 x303.
Working
with the Advocates
for Wetlands & Watersheds
NepRWA
was a founding member of Advocates for Wetlands and
Watersheds (AWW), a coalition of environmental and watershed
associates that lobbies state environmental agencies for
strict regulations and policies to protect these resources.
Other active members of AWW include MassAudubon, the New
England Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Mystic River
Watershed Association, and Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Learn more by
contacting Steve Pearlman, Advocacy Director, at pearlman@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Partnering
to Protect Pine Tree Brook
NepRWA,
the Milton Department of Public Works, and the Pine Tree
Brook Neighborhood Association have been working together to
improve the water quality in Pine Tree Brook in Milton.
Applying progressive stormwater treatment techniques has
been a key aspect of this project. Bioretention cells have
been constructed along the edge of the brook, adjacent to a
walking path. Runoff diverted from adjacent streets now
drains into these cells and also into a wooded
wetland. The stormwater is filtered by the soil, plants and
microorganisms before entering the brook. A public education
program has also been implemented to encourage residents to
pick-up after their dogs and use fewer chemicals on their
lawns. There has been an informational canvas of the
neighborhood, application of decals on catchbasins, and
installation of signage and mutt mitt stations. Learn more
by contacting Carly Rocklen, Outreach Director and
Restoration
Manager, at rocklen@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Inventorying & Assessing Neponset Dams
While
NepRWA is advocating for the removal of the two most
downstream dams on the Neponset River, we are also
investigating the other 100+ dams in the Neponset Watershed.
The purpose of the Dam Inventory and Assessment Project is
to conduct a basic inventory of dams and other obstructions
to fish movement in the Neponset Watershed. Amazingly,
during the pilot phase of the project, 87 structures were
found in just the East Branch watershed! Read about our dam
survey volunteers'
work. Learn more by
contacting Carly Rocklen, Outreach Director and Restoration
Manager, at rocklen@neponset.org
or 781-575-0354.
Water
BUDGETS Project
In
1998, NepRWA began the “Water BUDGETS” project, a
multi-year effort to develop a volunteer-based approach to
assess and manage the impacts of streamflow depletion on
aquatic life. The Water BUDGETS project built on
the success of traditional volunteer water-quality monitoring,
and applied these principles to the challenging task of
managing streamflows. In its first phase, Water BUDGETS
involved coordinating more than 75 volunteers to take daily
measurements of stream depth, evaporation, precipitation and a
host of other parameters. The project also involved conducting
formal public opinion surveys, evaluating methods to restore
stream base flows, and building broad coalitions for
implementation of these actions. Learn
more.
Daylighting
the Neponset River in Foxborough
As
you travel downstream from the Neponset Reservoir in Foxboro,
you will notice the Gillette Stadium, home of the New England
Patriots. It was during the Stadium's construction that almost
one-third-mile of "dead" Neponset River was brought back
to life. Learn more.
Removing
Exotic, Invasive Asian water chestnuts
In
2002, more than a dozen volunteers gathered at Ellis Pond to
remove the invasive Asian water chestnut (Trapa natans).
Learn more.
Protecting
Forbes Woods from Development
In
2002, NepRWA worked with local residents to get a very special
parcel of wooded land in Milton protected. Learn
more.
Protecting
the Biodiverse Fowl Meadow from Highway Development
In
1967, local people worked hard to prevent what we know today
as the "Fowl Meadow" (have you walked the Burma Rd.
path in the Blue Hills Reservation?) from becoming a
highway. Learn more.