Project
Description
The
Lower Neponset River Restore Project would involve removing the two
most downstream dams on the
Neponset
River, which would restore historic herring and shad runs to more
than 17 miles of the Neponset. At the same time, the River
Restore Project would also cleanup sediments on the bottom of
the
Neponset
River
that are seriously contaminated with toxic polychlorinated
biphenyls or “PCBs.”
The Watershed Association believes that the River Restore
Project presents a unique opportunity for the Commonwealth.
Restoration work would improve the ecology and aesthetics of the river, reduce
flooding, enhance recreation, boost recreational and
commercial fisheries, protect public health and reduce the
burden on taxpayers for the maintenance of obsolete dams.
Restoring the river would benefit both the neighborhoods where
the dams are located, as well as many communities located
upstream and down.
Read
a letter of support (pp. 1
& 2)
for the River Restore project, signed by local and regional
organizations.
There
are many issues to be considered when deciding to keep or
remove a dam, including: flooding,
fisheries, wetlands,
sediment contamination, recreation,
historic resources, aesthetics,
industrial use, hydropower,
management alternatives and cost.
This website serves as a clearinghouse
for related information on the River Restore project.
Get
Involved and Share Your Opinion
The
cleanup and restoration of the Neponset
River
will not move forward unless there is a very broad base of
public support for the project.
Whether
you support the project or not, we would like to get your
feedback. Once you’ve reviewed the site, please take a
moment to let us know what you think.
If
you would like to receive notices of public meetings and other
opportunities to comment on the project, please complete the
online questionnaire or send an email with your contact
information to: staff@neponset.org.
If
you have further questions or comments, feel free to contact
Steve Pearlman or Ian Cooke by calling the Watershed
Association office at 781-575-0354.
History
& Background
Since
the 1970s, there has been an extraordinary improvement in the
water quality of the Neponset River. Untreated industrial
discharges have been eliminated and investments in wastewater
infrastructure have ended the sewage overflows that once were
common.
The
cleanup has transformed the river from a foul smelling
neighborhood liability into a valued community amenity. In
spite of this progress, problematic legacies of the river’s
industrial past still linger in the form of toxic river-bottom
sediments and dams which severely disrupt the natural flow of
the river.
The
River Restore Project focuses on a 5-mile stretch of the
Neponset
River
known as the “Lower Neponset,” located in Milton, Hyde
Park, Mattapan and part of
Dorchester
.
See the
project area.
The
Baker Dam is located in Dorchester/Milton Lower Mills, just
upstream of
Adams Street
. The Tileston and Hollingsworth (“T&H”) Dam is
located on the Milton/Hyde Park border off
Truman Parkway
and
River Street
and is not visible from any public streets.
Both
dams are owned by the state and were built in the mid-1960s as
part of a state flood-control project that channelized the
Lower Neponset, filled in its floodplain, and removed three
other dams that were severely damaged during the 1955 floods.
Historically, there had been a series of mill dams built in
the vicinity of the Baker Dam and the T&H Dam for
industrial purposes, dating as far back as 1634.
The
Baker and T&H Dams have no fish passage facilities and
block a number of migratory fish species—most notably
blueback herring and American shad—from reaching 17 miles of
their historic spawning grounds on the Neponset River and its
tributaries upstream. If the fish could bypass the dams, fish
runs would be restored in
Walpole,
Norwood, Westwood, Dedham
, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Dorchester, Quincy,
Milton, and Canton
.
See map of
prospective restored fish runs.
