OAR history | OAR Accomplishments |What other web sites should I check out?

What is OAR?

Damonmill on the Assabet in West Concord. Once one of the river's wollen mills, the mill is now home to offices, one of which is OAR's headquarters.

For More Information

Our mission, vision and values Detailed statement on who we are and our vision for the future Who we are: OAR's staff and board OAR events See what we're up to and get involved. Contact OAR Questions? Comments ... Join! OAR's Sponsors Who are OAR's sponsors and funders

The Organization for the Assabet River (OAR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group whose mission is to preserve, protect, and enhance the Assabet River, its tributaries, and watershed. Established in 1986 by a group of concerned citizens, OAR currently has approximately 920 members, a 14-member board of directors, and a part-time staff of five. OAR's three-pronged approach to its mission is to:

• Raise awareness of the river's special qualities as well as its problems among its various "stakeholders" - the public, watershed towns, and government agencies;
• Collect data and advocate for additional information gathering in order to insure that decisions affecting the river are based on scientific research; and
• Work with town, government agencies, and others toward solutions that will improve the Assabet River, and satisfy the state's standard of a "fishable and swimmable" river.

Awareness and Stewardship. OAR's public outreach, education, and recreation programs include: canoe and kayak trips, volunteer-based shoreline surveys and water quality monitoring, educational workshops, two meetings a year with featured speakers, a nutrient awareness project, summer solstice and Earthday celebrations, and (of course) this perfectly fabulous webpage.

OAR staff and volunteers also discuss the Assabet River as invited speakers at conferences, civic organization's meetings, and schools. OAR publishes a newsletter three times a year. OAR's StreamWatch program to monitor flow in the Assabet tributaries was initiated in 2002.

Science. To ensure that decisions affecting the river are based on good science, OAR conducts its own monitoring programs and advocates for studies beyond our capacity. OAR monitors water quality (since 1992), steamflow in the tributaries (since 2002) and aquatic plants in the river's impoundments (since 2005). OAR requested the nutrient TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) analysis of the river (completed in 2004), successfully advocated for a USGS hydrologic study of the Assabet's aquifers, and advocated for funding for an Army Corp of Engineer's sediment remediation study.

Solutions. OAR works to improve water quality and protect water quantity by commenting on proposed developments, new water withdrawal permits, wastewater facility permits, and other projects with potential impact on the Assabet River. We work closely with regulatory agencies and municipalities to assure the river has a "strong voice" in all major decisions that affect it.

In 1999, OAR partnered with the Middlesex Conservation District to offer watershed towns a series of "nutrient workshops," including one on emerging wastewater treatment plant technologies. In 2000-2001, OAR continued its nutrient outreach work by mailing informational flyers to taxpayers. OAR continues to educate the public by providing instructive brochures along with updated information on this website. 

As a participant in the Assabet Consortium's Comprehensive Wastewater Planning process and member of the Assabet River Sediment Remediation Study Technical Advisory Committee, OAR works with the six communities, state, and federal agencies to protect the river.  OAR also organizes a multi-site annual river cleanup and accepts gifts of land along the river.  The $1.5M OAR/Intel water recharge fund, announced in 2002, was a result of a collaboration between OAR and Intel Massachusetts to restore groundwater in the Assabet watershed.

OAR relies heavily on volunteers to accomplish our goals; over 150 volunteers participated in the 2006 annual cleanup (removing several tons of trash from the river), and 90 volunteers participated in the most recent shoreline survey. OAR staff and volunteers also work collaboratively with other groups to achieve environmental goals. We are fortunate that many volunteers donate their professional services to OAR including graphic design, writing, computer support, web design and maintenance, fundraising and public relations skills, and scientific and legal analysis. We are extremely grateful to the many OAR members who have used their time and talents to help OAR and the Assabet River and we owe much of the organization's success to their efforts.

OAR history

Results!

• New stringent wastewater discharge limits for phosphorus
• Tons of debris and hundreds of tires removed in twenty Annual River Cleanups
• Pollution sources pinpointed in fifteen summers of monthly water quality monitoring and data posted to the web
• Many pollution sources reduced/eliminated through work with state and local governments
• With Intel Massachusetts, created $1.5M Assabet River Recharge Fund to restore groundwater lost to water supply use through local project grants
• Advocated for creation of the 2300-acre Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Stow, Hudson, Maynard, and Sudbury
• Successful advocacy for hydrologic modeling to understand the relationship between groundwater withdrawals and river flow
• Collaborated with towns to educate residents about what they can do to help the river; nutrient education information reached 40,000+ households
• Earned Environmental Protection Agency certification for volunteer water quality monitoring program - our data can be used for legal and regulatory purposes, and is!
• Participated in Assabet Consortium’s Comprehensive Wastewater Planning process; with Consortium, successfully sought $650,000 in state and federal funding for sediment remediation/dam removal study
• Successful advocacy for a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analysis to determine how much phosphorus the river can safely assimilate
• Submitted detailed technical analyses of wastewater treatment plant permits, water withdrawal permits, and other proposed projects that could affect the river
• Four workshops for town officials on state-of-the-art phosphate removal techniques
• Successful shoreline surveys in Maynard, Acton, and Northborough
• Sponsor of Assabet River Rail Trail to promote a biking and walking trail to link Marlborough, Hudson, Maynard, and Acton: sponsor of Wild and Scenic River legislation for the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord
• Produced popular pocket recreation map of Assabet River and interactive web-based map
• Continuing educational programs about the Assabet, its watershed, and wildlife; OAR website and Newsletter

What other web sites should I check out?

Glad you asked. Here's a few. Please e-mail OAR if you know of a site that should be added to this list.

• The Sudbury Valley Trustees is a land trust dedicated to preserving
  land in the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord watershed.
• The Westborough Community Land Trust safeguards land to meet the
  environmental, recreational, agricultural, and scenic needs of the Town of Westborough.
• The Charles River Watershed Association is a nearby ally in the river saving business.
• American Rivers is a Washington D.C.-based river advocacy group focused
  on rivers and environmental issues all over the country.
• The Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge are helping the
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service open up the refuge which borders the Assabet
  River in Stow, Maynard, and Hudson.
• The Assabet River Rail Trail is working to bring alternative transportation in
  the Assabet River corridor.
• Concord Magazine occasionally features local history, nature, and the three rivers in Concord.
• The Acton Stream Team is helping improve conditions on two of the Assabet's
  tributaries, Nashoba and Fort Pond Brooks.
• The Massachusetts Watershed Coalition works to "build a network of
  watershed partners" in the Bay State.
• Massachusetts Riverways Program Massachusetts Department of Fisheries,
  Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement
• US Geological Survey Massachusetts stream flows on the Assabet River (USGS Gage Maynard)
• Nature Guides
• Bliss Publishing - Publishers of area river guides.
• Wildlife Trails Education Project (Many photos from the Assabet River National
  Wildlife Refuge and the Assabet watershed)
• Environmental League of Massachusetts
• For more links also see our StreamWatch links page.

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