THE STREAMER NEWSLETTER

Streamer: Summer 2000

For the fifth consecutive year, CRWA's monitoring data, collected monthly by over 80 volunteers, was used by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grade the river's water quality. In April, EPA announced the Charles River Basin, from Watertown Dam downstream to the mouth, had earned a "B", up from a "D" in 1995. Since 1995, communities along the Charles from Dedham to Boston have detected and disconnected over one million gallons of raw sewage spewing into the Charles each day. Spurred on by aggressive action by EPA and accompanied by nearly five years of water quality monitoring by CRWA, removal of these illegal discharges has led to remarkable improvements in the Charles, bringing the river closer to EPA's goal of a swimmable and fishable Charles by Earth Day 2005.

"As water quality in the Charles River Basin improves each year, we gain confidence that it can be restored to the point where it is consistently safe for recreation," said CRWA Executive Director Bob Zimmerman. "Until then, CRWA will continue seeking solutions to pollution and will continue using color-coded flags to inform the public about water quality-related health risks. We look forward to the day when the flagging is no longer necessary and pollution on the river is history." The percent of time that water quality in the Charles River Basin meets state bacterial standards for boating and swimming has increased dramatically since 1995 when CRWA began its monitoring program.

Percent of the Time
CHARLES RIVER BASIN
Met the State Water Quality Standards

         Year           Boating Standard       Swimming Standard         EPA Grade

         1995                      39%                                 19%                              D

         1996                      57%                                 21%                              C-

         1997                      70%                                 34%                              C

         1998                      83%                                 51%                              B-

         1999                      90%                                 55%                              B