THE STREAMER NEWSLETTER

Streamer: Spring 1999

Growth and sprawl: buzz words for the year 2000.   Governor Cellucci has his Planning for Growth Initiative; Vice President Gore his Livability Agenda.  I am proud to say CRWA has worked on managing growth for years, has learned a lot about it, and is increasingly influencing towns' growth decisions.  

Managing water is our integrating focus.
How a town manages its growth has a profound impact on its future water supplies, on stormwater runoff from roads and parking lots that pollute the river, and on the ability of soils to hold water and maintain river flows during dry periods.  CRWA applies hydrologic and geologic analysis to the questions of where and how a town should grow to protect water resources for the long term.

Managing water has many implications.
CRWA's scientific research helps to guide not only controversial regulatory decisions like zoning, but also priorities for land acquisitions and other steps such as vegetated buffers to trap polluted runoff, and decentralized sewage disposal systems that keep water close to home.

Water-focused planning is powerful.
Growth management is controversial.  But controls that are directed to a public purpose like water supply protection, and that are grounded in scientific analysis, are the most compelling politically and sustainable legally.

Water-focused planning is not anti-growth.
CRWA not only identifies areas to protect, but also areas appropriate for development, at no cost to the developer.  CRWA is not anti-growth.  We want to help towns make growth decisions that are environmentally sustainable. 

Yes, responsible growth management requires considering more than water.  We are not expert in elderly housing needs, or school construction.  But CRWA is effective because we are tightly focused on what we know, and because responsible water resource protection is so essential to the long term health of citizens and their communities, and to the future of the region's defining feature, the Charles River.

Come to our Corridor Council meeting on March 23 to hear more!