THE STREAMER NEWSLETTER

Streamer: Summer 2000

Upper Watershed

Development on the Rise
Another residential development in Milford recently received state approval for its draft Environmental Impact Report. The developers of South Central Estates II are proposing to augment their current development which is near completion with a 74-lot residential subdivision on 108-acres. CRWA officially objected to the precedence a project of this type is setting and the potential for future wetland impacts from individual lot owners.

Investigating Ongoing Pollution Hot Spot
Since CRWA began monthly monitoring of the river in late 1995, three sites in Milford have had elevated bacteria levels in violation of state recreational standards. Recently, staff from the Environmental Protection Agency, CRWA, and the Milford Sewer Department monitored water quality at the sites and discussed the town's current remediation work. Bacteria results at all three sites violated the state swimming standard with one site also in violation of the boating standard. The town anticipates that the removal of two illicit connections on Exchange Street by the Fall will clean up the river. CRWA will remain vigilant on the matter and conduct follow-up testing at the completion of the remediation project.

Millis Approves New Well
Voters at a Millis Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved the design and construction of a new water supply well for $2.2 million. At the same meeting, voters opposed a restriction on selling water from the new well to other towns. The additional well could further deplete aquifers already showing signs of stress.

Sherborn Sues Holliston
Sherborn has filed suit against neighboring Holliston over a proposed sewer system. The $45 million system will discharge treated wastewater near the border of the two towns. In the suit, Sherborn contends that it was improperly notified of the plan and the potential environmental impacts. However, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Secretary Robert Durand has stated that Sherborn was sufficiently informed. Based on Earth Tech's computer simulation modeling, CRWA believes the treated discharge will be safe and successful in maintaining groundwater quality.

Middle Watershed

Preserving Open Space
Fifty-seven acres of land will be preserved as open space in Lincoln to protect Cambridge's drinking water resources. Cambridge purchased the land and has granted to the Lincoln Conservation Commission a conservation restriction, ensuring that the property, predominantly wetlands, will remain protected. Besides water source protection, the open space will preserve wildlife habitat and provide low-impact recreation. In addition to selling the 57 acres, the former property owner, Peter D'Arrigo, Sr., has donated an adjacent 24-acre tract of wetlands to the town of Lincoln.

Ecological Health of the River

The Norumbega to Nonantum Stream Team, river stewards from Newton, Waltham and Watertown, will conduct a pilot study on bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrate in the Middle Watershed. Macroinvertebrates, animals associated with sediment or other substrate that are visible with the naked eye, will be collected this summer from several sites and enumerated by taxonomic group. The study will help evaluate the water quality of the river.

New Environmental Institute
Brandeis University in Waltham has established the Industrial Ecology Innovation and Training Institute whose purpose is to provide ongoing dialogue between government environmental regulators and industry. It will also address significant challenges and creative solutions in environmental protection and regulation. Institute members from Brandeis University, EPA, DEP, Raytheon, Environmental League of Massachusetts, and CRWA are currently meeting to discuss the Institute's focus and potential projects.

Linking Sections of the Upper Charles River Greenway
The design of the second phase of the Metropolitan District Commission's Upper Charles River pathway that stretches through the communities of Newton, Waltham, Waltham, and Watertown will be complete by the end of this summer. Construction will begin early 2001. This phase of the project will include improvements to the pathway off of California Street in Newton/Watertown and the Woerd Avenue Boat Launch in Waltham. Plans are also underway for two new greenway sections, one from Bridge Street to Farwell Street which includes a footbridge at Cheesecake Brook in Newton/Watertown, and another section from Elm Street to Moody Street in Waltham. Total cost of the project is $2 million, half of which still needs to be raised. CRWA, a strong advocate for greater and better access to the river, encourages local citizens to contact their state representatives and senators and request financial support for the pathway.

Disappearing Water Chestnuts
In its sixth year of harvesting water chestnut in the Lakes District of Newton and Waltham, Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) is winning the battle over the noxious weeds as fewer appear each summer. Starting this July, most of the smaller areas will be harvested by hand; however mechanical harvesters will work in Purgatory Cove. Despite improvements in the Lakes District, MDC must mechanically harvest the larger areas of water chestnuts farther downstream past Watertown Dam, near Newton Yacht Club and Community Rowing, where harvesting only began last year.

Lower Watershed

Testing Stormwater Controls
The Boston University Stormwater Remediation Project which began in late 1997 is in its third and final phase. Over the course of three years, beginning this fall, CRWA will collect stormwater samples at three sites in Boston to determine the effectiveness of several stormwater control measures in removing pollutants on the campus.

Assessing Stormwater Impacts
The United States Geological Survey, MA Water Resources Authority, and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs have begun monitoring stormwater loads from the Charles River at Watertown Dam and four major tributary sub-basins in the Lower Charles River. In addition, CRWA and the interagency team will monitor receiving water quality before, during, and after storm events at seven in-river locations starting from Arsenal Street Bridge in Brighton to Longfellow Bridge in Boston. Results gathered from this project will provide input and calibration data for the Lower Charles River bacterial water quality model now under preparation by MWRA.

Power Station Approval
Southern Energy Kendall, L.C.C. received a certificate from the state for its upgrade of its Kendall Square power station in Cambridge. SE Kendall conducted a two-year monitoring and computer modeling analysis to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of its non-consumptive cooling water discharge system to disrupt the salt water wedge that has encroached on the Charles River Lower Basin. CRWA supports the project as the discharge should break up the salt water wedge, increase dissolved oxygen levels, and eliminate stratification of the river.

Advocacy for Parklands
In June, a steering committee represented by CRWA, Trustees of Reservations, Friends of the Blue Hills, Friends of Hemlock Gorge, Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, and the Mystic River Watershed Association sponsored a forum to gauge the local environmental sector's interest in forming a Metropolitan Park Council. The council would advocate for and work to preserve and enhance the Metropolitan Park System for the enjoyment and use by all people. Based on the interest shown at the meeting, the committee plans to refine the purposes of the organization and build institutional support.