The River Current

|| THE RIVER CURRENT || ISSUE V || August 7, 2003 ||
The mostly monthly e-newsletter of the Charles River Watershed Association
...bringing Boston's backyard river to your door...

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In this issue:
I) MA State Reorganization and Budget Update (see the results of your hard work!)
II) Ipswich River complaint now available online
III) SmartStorm Rainwater Recovery System now recovering rain all over the Metro-Boston area
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Dear Friends of the River -
For the past three months, we have asked you several times to take some time out of your day and let your state legislator know how you feel about parkland and environmental legislative changes.  Thanks, in part, to your responses, many, many very good changes have been made to the system.  The two most significant were the dismantling of the Metropolitan District Commission without the division of the metropolitan parks system, and the creation of the Stewardship Council.  Read on for more information; then go out and enjoy the parks you helped to save!

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I) MA STATE REORGANIZATION AND BUDGET UPDATE
*Thank you to those of you who called your state legislators!*

MDC OUT: Between citizen activists, environmental organizations, the state legislature and the Romney administration, we have finally created a new parks management agency:  the Department of Conservation and Recreation (known as the DCR).  The Division of Urban Parks and Recreation, part of the DCR, will manage the metropolitan parks system, which had formerly been under the management of the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC).  This includes all of the parks, playgrounds, reservations, rinks, pools, golf courses and parkways that together comprise one of the oldest park systems in the country.  Keeping the system together, while changing the way it is managed, was one of CRWA main goals, and we feel that the new structure accomplishes this (though we will be lobbying to keep the historic name, the Metropolitan Parks System!). 

HELLO STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL: One of the most exciting aspects of the new structure is the creation of a Stewardship Council to work with and advise the DCR.  The Stewardship Council will be responsible for ensuring that management plans are developed for all of the state's park and recreational resources, for developing an oversight strategy for management, budget and policy, and for ensuring that the public has a voice in management of state parkland resources.  CRWA is working hard with our coalition partners to ensure that this new council is effective, and that it works closely with the DCR Commissioner and staff to live up to its mission and mandate.

Thanks again to the many CRWA members who made phone calls and sent faxes in response to our alerts as the legislative and administrative processes unfolded this spring and summer.

"Inside" (on the CRWA website) we update you on the overrides we asked you to support, including the Riverways program (saved!), the Clean Environment Program - Recycling (saved!), and the Toxic Use Reduction Institute (saved!).  We also have specifics on how the state legislature voted.  For more on this and other budget/veto/override updates, please visit:

http://www.crwa.org/index.php?reorg/result.html&2

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II) IPSWICH COMPLAINT FILED BY CRWA AGAINST DEP NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

Hopefully you read the Streamer article detailing the suit CRWA has brought against the Department of Environmental Protection for failing to comply with (its own) Water Management Act rules that regulate water withdrawals.  The complaint, in its entirety, as well as the Streamer article, is now available on the CRWA website:

http://www.crwa.org/index.php?ipswich/complaint.html&2

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III) ALL THIS RAIN IS WAY MORE FUN WITH A SMARTSTORM RAINWATER RECOVERY SYSTEM: a SmartStorm update

SmartStorm tanks are starting to show up all around the Metro-Boston region this summer.  CRWA recently completed an installation in Ipswich, MA for a new group home.  The installation was part of a larger project, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game's Riverways Program, and designed to show landscaping techniques and innovative technologies that help reduce demand on the public water supply.  Check out details on the installation and photos at http://www.crwa.org/index.php?projects/smartstorm/ipswichpage.html&2

SmartStorm Systems have also been recently installed in two residential locations within the city of Newton.  Finally, CRWA has received funding to complete the pilot installation program in the town of Bellingham.  Additional funding has also been provided to CRWA to develop larger scale SmartStorm systems in for a new town hall as well as a school in Bellingham.

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Fall member events are quickly approaching (think autumn, stunning foliage, great music)... Make sure you've upgraded your membership to River Friend ($50/year) to get the invites!  Upgrade here:

http://www.crwa.org/index.php?join.html&2

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The River Current is published by the Charles River Watershed Association and hosted by NPOGroups.org, a service of Electric Embers.   Editor: Ariel Dekovic

To automatically subscribe to The River Current, send an email to rivercurrent-subscribe@lists.charlesriver.org   To unsubscribe, send an email to rivercurrent-unsubscribe@lists.charlesriver.org.  For questions or concerns, email the list administrator at rivercurrent@crwa.org.  

Mailing address: 48 Woerd Avenue || Waltham, MA  || 02453
Phone: 781-788-0007  Fax: 781-788-0057  

Further information and back issues of The River Current can be found at http://www.charlesriver.org.  List information, as well as the other lists that CRWA can be found at http://lists.charlesriver.org.

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