THE STREAMER NEWSLETTER

Streamer: Summer 2000

As CRWA has grown in technical capability and what might be characterized as "environmental insight," we have been looking for ways of encouraging other organizations to grow similarly. Our theory has been that strong, technically-capable, watershed groups across the state would make a powerful lobby in favor of good, scientifically-verifiable, environmental stewardship.

With the issuance in January of Governor Cellucci's Executive Order 418 (EO418) providing funding to each of the 351 communities in Massachusetts to undertake "Community Development Plans," the opportunities for watershed organizations may have received a significant boost. The executive order identifies four areas of planning interest:

• Sites for new housing opportunities.
• Sites for commercial and/or industrial economic development.
• Analysis of transportation infrastructure necessary to support growth.
• Open space preservation.

In exchange for more favorable rankings in state grant programs such as the State Revolving Fund for water and wastewater infrastructure, municipalities may select from a list of approved contractors to compile these plans. A total of $30,000 per community is available from the state.

CRWA got involved in the development of language for guidance documents to communities for EO418 in January. We were concerned that the order as written could become essentially a "sprawl enabler," providing the planning for infrastructure necessary for rapid growth, especially along the I-495 corridor.

Using numbers developed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the outlook indeed could be bleak. Currently, along I-495 between Franklin and Marlboro, there is more than 100 million square feet of industrial building capacity on the market. Somewhere between 10 and 20 million square feet of that capacity is under construction, or in the permitting stage prior to construction. Industry averages suggest that there are four employees for every 1000 square feet of capacity, and those four employees have a significant other living with them.

Therefore, up to 160,000 people are looking for housing, groceries, water, wastewater treatment, schooling, roads, electricity, ballfields, golf courses, swimming holes, and parks right now. Over the next several years, that number could reach 800,000. If the I-495 corridor, from its intersection with I-95 to Lowell were included, the number jumps to over 1.4 million people.

CRWA's work to expand EO418's open space planning requirements to include analyses of environmental resources, open space prioritization, and hydrologic analyses was enthusiastically received by Secretary Bob Durand of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Essentially, every community under the order will be asked to undertake the same sort of environmental assessment we completed in Holliston as the precursor to environmental zoning.

Our Holliston environmental assessment used a Geographic Information System to map areas of developable land that are critical for recharging (replenishing) aquifers. These areas should be targeted for open space preservation. We also calculated a "water budget" for the town showing the impact of various levels of development on water resources. The budget showed the effect of precipitation, evaporation, runoff, wastewater export or recharge, and groundwater pumping on available water resources under future buildout scenarios. The information will be extremely useful for promoting manageable growth and sustaining environmental resources.

With the help of grants from the Kendall Foundation and an anonymous source, CRWA is providing assistance to 12 watershed organizations around the state in the form of new equipment and training to allow them to provide planning services under EO418. Additionally, CRWA will head a Watershed Technology Consortium of the groups to ensure that we all apply uniform methodologies to our assessments and meet the highest standards of quality assurance and quality control. In addition to CRWA, the consortium includes Massachusetts Watershed Coalition, Save the Bay, Salem Sound 2000 and the Neponset, Nashua, Merrimack, Farmington, Housatonic, Connecticut, Assabet, and North/South River watershed organizations.