OAR's programs combine the organization and planning of OAR's small staff with the efforts and talents of its members.  A commitment to maintaining and improving the Assabet's ecological and recreational value drives all of OAR's activities. On this page:
Water Quality / River Cleanup / Advocacy / Education / Outreach / Recreation / Regional Conservation

Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring

In 1992 OAR volunteers started a summer water quality testing program on the mainstem Assabet River - and they've been out there every summer since. While the methods have changed over the years, the program's goals have remained the same:

• to understand long-term trends in the river's condition;
• to provide sound scientific information to evaluate regulatory decisions affecting the river;
• to identify problem spots; and
• to promote stewardship of the river.

Of these goals, the last is perhaps the most important. Once you've been out on the river in the quiet of a Saturday morning, watching the sun rise, the fish jump, and the duckweed swirling gently in the current, you start to appreciate the beauty of this river and care about its survival as a habitat and a resource. And it is people caring about the river that will ultimately bring about the political will to make the changes needed to protect the river. (Volunteer!). 

Read more about OAR water quality monitoring program or StreamWatch monitoring on the tributary streams of the watershed.

Annual River Cleanup

Shopping carts. Refrigerators. Rusted firearms. A Volkswagen. Tons of tires. These are just a few of the many treasures (?) we've pulled out of the Assabet over the years. OAR has sponsored an annual cleanup of the Assabet since 1986, and we're proud of the mountain of junk we've collected from the river (and sent off for disposal in more appropriate locations!). This popular event has drawn as many as 300 volunteers.  So plan on joining us at one of our many sites along the river on September 13, 2008 - and enjoy a pizza lunch afterwards, courtesy of many area pizza parlors.

Advocacy

Wastewater treatment plant permits. Large water withdrawals. Large planned developments in environmentally sensitive areas. Toxic waste sites. These are just a few of the kinds of issues we've spoken out on recently. OAR's advocacy work, carried out under the direction of Policy Director Alison Field-Juma, seeks to improve the river's water quality and protect its flow in order to enhance the river's wildlife and recreational value. All our advocacy supports our vision of a clean, healthy Assabet River. OAR has long worked to ensure that wastewater discharges meet stricter standards to- hopefully - restore the river. OAR analyzes and comments on planned projects and developments, to ensure that these projects do not harm the river. OAR advocates for a various scientific studies to determine the best ways to restores the river, assess progress, and determine the streamflows required to support its wildlife population and recreational uses.

Results - stronger protection for the river!

Following a long process of analysis (the nutrient "Total Maximum Daily Loading" study started in 1999) and negotiation, a cleaner Assabet is on the horizon. As of April 2006, Marlborough joined Hudson, Maynard, and Westborough/Shrewbury in committing to upgrading its wastewater treatment facilities to meet, among other requirements, an effluent phosphorus concentration limit less than one-seventh of its current 0.75 mg/L limit. All the municipal facilities that discharge to the Assabet River are now required to meet the new phosphorus limit of 0.1 mg/L beginning in 2010. This is a tremendous win of national significance for the Assabet River. A scant handful of publicly-operated wastewater treatment plants (POTWs) around the country have been required to meet phosphorus limits this low or lower.
Read more.

Education

Starting in 2004, OAR has worked with the City of Marlborough to present summertime workshops for kids on the beach at Fort Meadow Reservoir. These hands-on workshops provide a fun way for kids to learn about our rivers and ponds, the creatures that depend on them, and the things that we can do to protect them. In 2008, the program will be expanding to other lake-side or river-side locations in the watershed. (See pictures from the 2007 workshops.)

Public Outreach

Twice a year OAR holds member meetings – free and open to the public -- with guest speakers. Recent topics have included: wildlife in the Assabet headwaters with breathtaking pictures by Dave Griffin; a history of the Assabet in Maynard and Stow; the new Assabet National Wildlife Refuge; birds, fish, and dragonflys of the Assabet; and a photography workshop. Look for spring and fall meetings listed on our Events page.

Other OAR outreach efforts include

• holding walks, paddles, and other river celebrations,
• convening a biennial roundtable for all Sudbury, Assabet and Concord lake- and river-protection groups,
• speaking at local and regional conferences, local schools and civic organiztions' meetings,
• talking to reporters from the Boston Globe, MetroWest Daily News, Worcester Telegram and Gazette, and local weekly newspapers,
• creating a pocket-sized Assabet River Recreation Map – over 9,000 copies distributed!

River Recreation

OAR sponsors Assabet River canoe and kayak trips during the warmer months. These include celebrations of our Wild and Scenic Rivers, solstice celebrations and walks along sections of the river.  See OAR's on-line recreation guide to the Assabet River.

Regional and State River Conservation

OAR is an active participant in a much larger community of people working to protect land and rivers regionally, and statewide. OAR staff and volunteers serve on the SuAsCo Wild and Scenic River Stewardship Council, the Massachusetts In-Stream Flow Task Force, the SuAsCo Community Council, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and the MA Watershed Coalition. OAR staff and volunteers also have served as advisors on the Assabet Consortium and on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Army Corps of Engineers sediment study of the Assabet.