Charles River Climate Compact
The Charles River Compact aims to bring together communities in the Charles River watershed to work on climate adaptation by sharing information and experiences and taking a watershed view of adaptation strategies.
Many cities and towns are taking proactive leadership roles in adapting to climate change. Even though many cities and towns are allocating resources to climate adaptation, the reality is there are challenges that individual towns cannot address on their own and are more appropriately addressed at a regional scale. Additionally, communities cannot act in a vacuum as the actions of one community will have impacts on neighboring or downstream communities.
The Charles River Climate Compact is:
All communities that are fully or partially within the Charles River watershed are invited to join! Entering the compact just requires a commitment to working on climate adaptation at a regional scale. To demonstrate a commitment to climate adaptation we ask that communities meet two or more of the requirements listed below to be eligible members. Not sure if you're in the Charles River watershed? Find out here.
Many cities and towns are taking proactive leadership roles in adapting to climate change. Even though many cities and towns are allocating resources to climate adaptation, the reality is there are challenges that individual towns cannot address on their own and are more appropriately addressed at a regional scale. Additionally, communities cannot act in a vacuum as the actions of one community will have impacts on neighboring or downstream communities.
The Charles River Climate Compact is:
- A convening of watershed communities to discuss shared challenges and regional challenges to climate adaptation
- A convening of watershed communities to discuss solutions to both shared and regional challenges to climate adaptation
- A convening of watershed communities to investigate watershed scale flooding issues
- A convening of watershed communities to raise issues together, as needed
- Access to technical expertise from CRWA, and our network of environmental partners as needed, to address challenges in the following categories: flooding, stormwater, water quality and quantity, environmental justice, dam removal, wetlands protections, land use, and accessing funding
- Free to join!
All communities that are fully or partially within the Charles River watershed are invited to join! Entering the compact just requires a commitment to working on climate adaptation at a regional scale. To demonstrate a commitment to climate adaptation we ask that communities meet two or more of the requirements listed below to be eligible members. Not sure if you're in the Charles River watershed? Find out here.
Membership benefits
- Networking and information sharing with neighboring communities
- Forum for taking on regional climate adaptation challenges (example: joining with multiple communities and CRWA to push for answers from a state agency or investigate a dam removal opportunity)
- Access to technical expertise from CRWA and our network, CRWA will specifically be asking members to input on what technical and/or policy resources they need and will work to find or create those
- Participation in watershed scale flood planning
Membership requirements
Communities must meet two or more of the listed requirements:
- Be a designated MVP community or in the MVP planning process.
- Have a current hazard mitigation plan that deals with the expected impacts from climate change.
- Have a demonstrated commitment to water conservation.
- Have a demonstrated commitment to green infrastructure.
- Member of (informal) Charles River Stormwater Collaborative.
- Member of Mass ECAN, Metro Mayors adaptation task force, or other similar climate adaptation association
member communitY expectations
- Designate a point person within the community as the Climate Compact representative
- Attend two meetings a year
- After year 1, join and participate in a subcommittee
- Participation in Google group discussions
- Maintain eligibility
Participating Communities
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Arlington Bellingham Brookline Cambridge Dedham Franklin Hopkinton Lincoln Medway Millis |
Natick Newton Norfolk Somerville Walpole Watertown Wellesley Weston Westwood Wrentham |
Eagle Dam Removal Feasibility
In 2019 CRWA partnered with the Town of Wrentham to assess the feasibility of removing the dam on Eagle Brook, a tributary of the Charles River. Eagle Dam was identified as a potential vulnerability during Wrentham’s Municipal Vulnerability Planning (MVP) process, as dam failure would cause flooding of residential areas, municipal systems, and Route 140.
The dam previously suffered a failure at the spillway and a resident rebuilt it without professional consultation. Severe erosion and vegetation overgrowth are causing insufficient hydraulic capacity and embankment stability concerns. The poor condition of the dam and the vulnerability it poses with projected increases in precipitation make it an excellent candidate for removal.
Removing the dam would restore natural flow patterns and re-establish the floodplain along Eagle Brook. In addition, it would eliminate maintenance and upkeep costs for the Town and remove a hazard. This project serves as a model for removing legacy dams that no longer serve any function and present a significant liability for communities in the age of climate change.
This project is funded by the EEA’s MVP Action Grant Program.
The dam previously suffered a failure at the spillway and a resident rebuilt it without professional consultation. Severe erosion and vegetation overgrowth are causing insufficient hydraulic capacity and embankment stability concerns. The poor condition of the dam and the vulnerability it poses with projected increases in precipitation make it an excellent candidate for removal.
Removing the dam would restore natural flow patterns and re-establish the floodplain along Eagle Brook. In addition, it would eliminate maintenance and upkeep costs for the Town and remove a hazard. This project serves as a model for removing legacy dams that no longer serve any function and present a significant liability for communities in the age of climate change.
This project is funded by the EEA’s MVP Action Grant Program.
Conserving Water in Dedham and Westwood
Conserving water resources is important for our communities and the Charles River. The more water cities and towns need to pump out of the ground to meet the demand of their residents, the less groundwater makes its way into the Charles River, taking habitat away from fish and wildlife. In 2016, the state experienced an historic drought, leaving many smaller rivers and streams across the watershed running dry in late summer months.
In 2017 and 2018, CRWA partnered with Dedham-Westwood Water District to provide an app for homeowners to track usage and conserve water. The free Dropcountr app allows residents of Dedham and Westwood to track their monthly water use, compare it to similar households, connect with utility alerts and rebates, and receive direct support. The app allows provides better community between the Water District and its customers. In the second year of the project CRWA performed a robust data analysis on Dropcountr users water use data and found that households that signed up for Dropcountr had a greater decrease in summertime water use from the previous year, compared with households that did not sign up for Dropcountr. The drop was particularly great among households with very large water use. Their water decreased by 22% on average from the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2017*; compared with a 10% drop over the same period from non-Dropcountr users.
*2016 excluded due to historic drought conditions.
In 2017 and 2018, CRWA partnered with Dedham-Westwood Water District to provide an app for homeowners to track usage and conserve water. The free Dropcountr app allows residents of Dedham and Westwood to track their monthly water use, compare it to similar households, connect with utility alerts and rebates, and receive direct support. The app allows provides better community between the Water District and its customers. In the second year of the project CRWA performed a robust data analysis on Dropcountr users water use data and found that households that signed up for Dropcountr had a greater decrease in summertime water use from the previous year, compared with households that did not sign up for Dropcountr. The drop was particularly great among households with very large water use. Their water decreased by 22% on average from the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2017*; compared with a 10% drop over the same period from non-Dropcountr users.
*2016 excluded due to historic drought conditions.