RESTORING THE URBAN WATER ENVIRONMENT

photo by Eric Endlich

Project Overview

A collaborative project between Charles River Watershed Association and Conservation Law Foundation

Eastern Massachusetts is facing a water crisis of massive proportions, in which demand has outstripped the carrying capacity, or sustainability, of our water resources, and pollution threatens both aquatic habitat and recreation. Across Massachusetts, rivers are experiencing significant summer stress in which streamflow and aquatic resources are impaired. This decline can be reversed.

Conservation Law Foundation and CRWA have launched a collaboration to create an integrated, sustainable water policy that will ensure adequate water supply and healthy, clean waterways in the Greater Boston area and beyond. This project will affect residents in the metropolitan Boston region who depend on water resources for potable water supply, recreation, and healthy ecosystems.

The project is a collaborative effort that draws upon the substantial experience and expertise of the two organizations. CRWA is the preeminent watershed organization in the nation, with a long history of practical hands-on watershed experience, an activist grassroots constituency, multi-disciplinary technical expertise, and strong policy and legal expertise. CLF is the regional leader on clean water and smart growth, and brings nationally recognized federal Clean Water Act expertise to the project. The combined capabilities of the two organizations provide a unique opportunity to create a fundamental change in water policy and regulation, and water management infrastructure. Our success is laying the groundwork for eliminating looming water conflicts and shortages in eastern Massachusetts, and providing a template for sustainable water use in urban areas.

With over 40 inches a year of rainfall, and perhaps more with climate change, Massachusetts has ample water and could easily support significant growth while maintaining plentiful, clean water resources, if we manage our resources right.  CRWA was among the first organizations in the country to identify and understand this process and its consequences, and our science programs from 1994 to the present have identified both root causes and potential comprehensive solutions.  

Through innovative advocacy at the state and federal level, CRWA and CLF have begun to address these problems. We already invest millions of dollars in water infrastructure every year.  Moving forward, these investments need to be directed towards programs that will achieve sustainable water management, creating a healthier urban environment and clean, safe rivers and harbors.