The River Current

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|| THE RIVER CURRENT || EDUCATE YOURSELF! || November 12, 2003 ||

A special supplement to the Charles River Watershed Association’s mostly monthly e-newsletter, wherein we highlight some aspect of CRWA’s work or an issue of concern for the watershed

...bringing our backyard river to your door...

Dear Friend of the Charles River:

This is our inaugural issue of an occasional series called “Educate Yourself!” that is intended to help our members navigate the sometimes difficult issues that affect our watershed.  Join us as we explore the issue of sprawl and discuss our method of combating the problem.

Attack of the Giant Towns:
Solving the Very Real Problem of Sprawl with REAL Planning

Towns around the Charles River watershed and New England are struggling with runaway growth.  This growth threatens the health of our environment and our communities in a myriad of ways, from water resources to rare natural communities to recreational open space.  Much has been written recently about low impact development (LID), or the landscaping design for developments that effectively eliminates stormwater runoff as a problem mitigating some of the impacts associated with sprawl.  LID can and often does introduce effective techniques that reduce potable water use. However, in CRWA's work, it has become clear that there is a significant step missing if town planners take existing zoning and simply apply LID techniques expecting to end water problems. 

Land and water work together. It is in our interest to identify how and where land and water interactions are critical to environmental sustainability, wildlife habitat, and surface water flow. We ignore these links at our peril. 

Recognizing this, CRWA, over a period of six years, has developed a land analysis methodology, we call Resource, Environmental, and Land (REAL) Planning, which has been referred to in its first iterations locally as "environmental zoning." REAL Planning identifies those land areas where development of any kind should simply be avoided.

An in-depth explanation of the REAL Planning method is now on our website, as well as maps and results from a case study conducted in the town of Littleton, MA.

Sprawl is a real threat to our communities, our watershed and our environment.  Take a moment to educate yourself about this important project: http://www.charlesriver.org/EZ/ez.html

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REMINDER: DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE to see Chief of Commonwealth Development, Doug Foy, address the issue of sprawl and other threats to our environment and watershed at CRWA’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, November 19, 2003.  CALL TODAY TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT!  Purchase tickets by calling Louise Taylor at CRWA, 781-788-0007 ext. 231.