From that dirty water to a cleaner river

By Ariel Dekovic/ Special To The Tab

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Many people think factories and wastewater treatment plants are the major causes of pollution in the Charles River. These industrial sites do play a part in dumping waste into the river, but the everyday actions of residents in the river's watershed contribute to the water quality of the Charles as much as the large polluters on its banks.

Stormwater runoff poses one of the greatest threats to the quality of the river. Runoff carries pollutants such as phosphorus, nitrogen, oil and grease, and pathogens from our roads and lawns into the river and its tributaries.

Just how much pollution can the Charles River take and be safe for swimming and fishing? The Clean Water Act, which was passed in 1972, mandates that all states answer these questions by developing and adopting Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for waters "impaired" by pollutants. This involves monitoring the river and calculating the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive while still meeting water quality standards, and allocating that amount among the pollutant's sources. In other words, the state must calculate how large the "pollution pie" can be and who gets what portion of the pie.

"We have to accept that some level of pollution occurs in urban rivers. Our goal is to find out how much pollution the river can tolerate without harming water quality or the fisheries and then figure out who needs to do what to clean up the river," said Robert Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association. "If people and rivers are going to co-exist, then we must find ways to manage our pollution in smarter ways."

One of the components of the Total Maximum Daily Load Project is wet weather monitoring. Wet weather monitoring allows scientists to create a picture of the river during storm conditions. This monitoring entails sampling the water of the Charles and several of its tributaries at varying times during a storm. The samples are then analyzed in a laboratory to create a water quality snapshot of the river. This monitoring combined with dry weather monitoring, measurements of river flow, computer modeling of flow and water quality, and close coordination with members of the watershed communities will create a complete understanding of how pollution works and where it comes from in the Charles. Once it is complete river advocates can make more informed decisions about the health of the river.

According to a list compiled in 2000 by the Environmental Protection Agency's National Water Quality Inventory 2000 Report, only 35% of surveyed river miles in Massachusetts fully support their designated uses. 65% of surveyed river miles are "impaired" by high amounts of one or more pollutants, failing to meet the state's water quality standards and their designated uses of swimming and fishing.

"Having the Total Maximum Daily Load project completed will give environmental regulators the teeth they need to make sure pollutant levels in the Charles are cut," said CRWA Project Manager Kathy Baskin.

However, the task ahead is enormous. The state has committed to completing all of its approximately 1,500 TMDLs calculations by the year 2012. A TMDL provides the basis for states and EPA to establish water quality-based controls (such as stricter discharge permits) aimed at achieving state water quality standards. Therefore, many of these TMDLs will likely face legal and technical challenges as polluters fight for less stringent requirements and a bigger share of the "pollution pie."

Elimination of all pollution sources to the river is not a realistic goal. However, the intention is to reduce pollution in the river as much as possible. To complement TMDL implementation, which focuses on pollutants that have already entered waste streams such as wastewater or stormwater, work must also be done to prevent pollution through zoning that is environmentally mindful. Water quality depends on smart land use, and smart land use depends on wise decision-making by our legislators and watershed residents alike. Ariel Dekovic is the publications manager of the Charles River Watershed Association.