Fed up, groups demand solution to sewer overflows — State House News Service

Great to read this new article by State House News Service (SHNS) featuring local efforts to eliminate combined sewer overflows (CSOs) from Massachusetts waterbodies, “As they develop updated plans to reduce or eliminate the sewage that gets dumped into the Charles River and surrounding waterways during heavy rains, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and city officials from Cambridge and Somerville will give an update this week on the options being considered to reduce overflows and what those options could mean for water quality. Parts of Massachusetts have combined sewer systems, in which surface runoff is put through the same pipes as sewage. When it rains a lot, stormwater and groundwater overwhelm the systems. To prevent sewage backups into homes and streets, relief points called combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that are built into the wastewater systems are activated and discharge some of the sewage and rainwater into the nearest body of water.”

The article features CRWA, '“While the updated CSO control plans have been under development, the Charles River Watershed Association has been working to raise awareness of CSOs and their health impacts, and to ‘generate pressure on MWRA/Cambridge/Somerville to eliminate them.’ The group launched its "Cut The Crap" campaign on Earth Day this year with supporters in poop emoji costumes hanging a banner over the Mass. Turnpike.” Thank you, SHNS, for highlighting future steps: “Cambridge, Somerville, and the MWRA will evaluate the feedback from public meetings as they continue assembling the draft report. MWRA staff said they plan to make a recommendation to the agency's board at its Oct. 22 meeting. The plan is to file the draft updated CSO control plan "in December 2025," MWRA said, before a series of public meetings and hearings. MWRA staff said they "envision robust public involvement following submittal of the Draft Plan" and that they will then make "further adjustment to the Draft Plan" before a final updated CSO control plan is submitted in January 2027.”