The River Current

|| The River Current || January 27, 2005 || Issue XIV ||

The mostly monthly e-newsletter of the Charles River Watershed Association

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

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In this issue:

1) ADVOCACY: Save the date for a public hearing on stormwater management

2) FELLOWSHIP: CRWA announces the Rita Barron Fellowship

3) IN THE NEWS: CRWA's making waves in the watershed

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Dear friends of the Charles River,

And away into the New Year we go! This is our favorite time of year at

CRWA, when we start to gear up for the spring advocacy and recreation

hullabaloo. We've got announcements galore in this issue of the River

Current, from a new science & advocacy fellowship with CRWA to an

opportunity for the public to weigh in on the progress of water quality in

the Charles. CRWA now has a regular monthly column on environmental matters

in the Newton Tab. Look for our column on the first Wednesday of every

month. And finally, the CRWA 2004 Annual Report will hit mailboxes next

week, so be on the lookout for this extensive publication that details all

of our accomplishments from the past year.

The snowy river is pretty majestic these days. Hope you can get out and

enjoy it! Check out Charles River Recreation's new website at

www.ski-paddle.com and rent yourself some x-country skis to check out the

banks of the Charles this weekend!

For a cleaner Charles,

Ariel Dekovic, Publications manager

1) SAVE THE DATE: Notice of hearing to review stormwater management plans

The reason for the hearing, to be held on February 15, 2005 from 1-3 pm at

the O'Neil Building at 10 Causeway Street, Boston, is to review the

stormwater management plans for the nine towns whose stormwater flows into

the lower Charles. The EPA and the Massachusetts Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP) regulate all stormwater discharges, and all

cities and towns that have storm drains are required to have a permit. The

permits call for the towns to follow a basic set of practices, including

regular street sweeping, cleaning and inspecting catch basins, tracking down

sewage that finds its way into storm drains, educating people about

stormwater, and passing local bylaws to reduce stormwater pollution. The

ultimate goal of the permit project is to ensure that stormwater discharges

do not violate the federal Clean Water Act. The nine towns -- Weston,

Wellesley, Dedham, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown, Brookline and

Cambridge -- have all made significant improvements in the past decade.

However, stormwater remains one of the factors causing the river to exceed

state water quality standards for fishing and swimming, and testing of the

water that comes out of the end of storm drains shows that there are still

serious problems, especially in some communities. For those who cannot

attend the meeting, EPA is accepting written comments through February 17.

We will be sending out a more extensive action alert regarding this issue

very soon, but for now please mark you calendars for the hearing date and

place: February 15, 2005 from 1-3 pm at the O'Neil Building at 10 Causeway

Street, Boston. Check back at www.charlesriver.org for updates on this

important issue.

2) Charles River Watershed Association seeks applicants for the Rita Barron

Fellowship

The Rita Barron Fellowship is named in honor of CRWA's second Executive

Director, who worked for fifteen years as a pioneering leader in river and

watershed protection. The Fellow will work closely with the science and

advocacy staff of the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), one of the

oldest watershed associations in the country. The Fellow will take a lead

role in developing and implementing a one-year public stormwater education

program. In addition, the Fellow will work on a variety of ongoing projects

and programs including the Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program, the

Flagging Program, the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analysis, and

advocating for environmentally sensitive urban development around the lower

Charles River. Tasks will include research, writing reports, preparing

publications and media materials, preparation for and execution of field

work, data management and analysis, working with volunteers and

constituents, making public presentations, and updating and maintaining the

website. The deadline to apply for the fellowship is FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4,

2005.

For necessary qualifications, stipend details, and how to apply, visit:

http://www.charlesriver.org/releases/ritabarron.html

3) CRWA in the News

Read up on last month's CRWA Newton Tab column on the fish of the Charles

River by our own Anna Eleria:

http://www2.townonline.com/newton/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=157051

Executive Director Bob Zimmerman speaks out on behalf of funding for

environmental programs in the state:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=88003

http://www2.townonline.com/arlington/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=172317