News from around the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord River Watershed 

This news from around the watershed comes from our Feb 28th, 2004, Watershed Roundtable for lake and river groups in the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord River basin. In addition to OAR we heard from:

Sudbury Watershed Monitoring and Protection (SWAMP)
Ashland Stream Team
Cedar Swamp Conservation Trust
Hop Brook Protection Association (HBPA)
Northborough Stream Team
Fort Meadow Watershed Neighborhood Association
Lake Boon Association
Friends of White Pond & Concord CCMP Committee
Mill Brook Task Force
Concord River Environment Stream Team (CREST)
Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust
River Meadow Brook Association

USGS Habitat Survey Training

Sudbury Watershed Monitoring and Protection (www.state.ma.us/dfwele/river/rivSudsouth.htm): SWAMP formed in 1998 and got an EOEA grant in 1999 that allowed them to get water quality monitoring equipment and get their water quality testing underway. 1999 was the first time in memory that the upper Sudbury (by the Fruit Street bridge) dried up during part of the summer. Raising awareness of the river continues to be an issue; the river is small and hs very limited access. Limited access also means that the river is undisturbed in places too. Projects: Recently SWAMP recieved a grant from Riverways for a storm drain stenciling and a non-point source education project in the upper Sudbury working with the Ashland and Hopkinton Stream Teams. SWAMP also working with USGS to take field measurements for the continuing USGS habitat survey.

Ashland Stream Team (www.ashlandopenspace.org/streamteam):
The Ashland Stream Team, started in 2002, is an all-volunteer group; they get some assistance from the town Conservation Commission staff person. The Sudbury River has gotten a "no hazard" evaluation from the EPA following the clean up of the Nyanza superfund site, so it is safe to promote recreation on the river. EPA continues their monitoring of the river downstream of the Nyanza site. The Stream Team's longer term goals include raising awareness, increasing membership, and continuing shoreline surveys. John Andersen (Ashland jr. high school teacher) is working with his students monitoring selected sites on the river. Projects: In 2004 the stream team plans to conduct shoreline surveys to gather qualitative data about the river and riverbanks. They plan Earthday 2004 and clean up activities with scout troops and the Ashland Recycling committee. They'll also be labeling of storm drains to determine where stormwater flows and participating field data gathering for the USGS habitat study. There are two public boat launch sites approved.

Cedar Swamp Conservation Trust (www.csctrust.org):
CSC Trust is the newest of the groups, formed in 2003, but very active, having weekly meetings. Cedar Swamp is the first ACEC in the state and is on the National Historic Registry. One of the challenges facing the group is that the swamp officially has limited access (although there is ample evidence of unofficial access) because much of the land is owned the Department of Conservation and Recreation; the group was recently denied access for sampling and tracking projects. CSCT currently monitors Whitehall Brook for the USGS Sudbury Aquatic Study and would like to gain access to monitor the Piccadilly Brooks in the heart of Cedar Swamp and also for Educational outings. There are various development and contamination issues threatening the swamp. The state is planning a land ownership swap (between state and private ownership) for land that has already been used for landfill. The Conservation Law Foundation has weighed in on this land swap that it is likely in violation of Article 97. Projects: CSC is planning a lot of public outreach and recreation events for the spring, a walking tour, a wine tasting fund raiser, canoe trips, bird watching, and an Earthday cleanup.

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Cochituate State Park Advisory Committee (www.millermicro.com/LCwatershed.html)
Cochituate State Park is one of several local state parks created from ex-reservoirs for the City of Boston and later for the Metropolitan District Commission (now the Department of Conservation and Recreation). The reservoir was built (within 2 years) to supply water to Boston, but the capacity only supported Boston for 20 years. The lake shore remains completely state-owned and user groups band together to get the state to take care of the lake. They have lake data dating back to 1912 and have a long history. The Eurasian milfoil invasion was first noticed in the summer of 2002 in a couple of isolated spots and could have been controlled by quarantining the area pond with netting. But one of the spots is a popular water skiing slalom area and action was not taken quickly enough to control the weed. By late August the milfoil had spread to all of the South and into Middle Pond. Now the weed has been seen in North Pond. Some of the problems in controlling milfoil include getting good signage and education for boaters and having a good place to rinse boats. Other frustrations come from the state's reorganization of its bureaucracy: new layers and new people in the chain of command. Projects: Projects include raising awareness, education, history, and controlling the invasive Eurasian milfoil.

Hop Brook Protection Association (www.hopbrook.org):
The Hop Brook Protection Association's goal is to stop the excessive nutrient discharge into Hop Brook by the Marlboro Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant, restore the Hop Brook System to Class B water standards and protect the ponds, streams & wildlife from further pollution. The brook's deterioration began 20 years ago because of the WWTP discharge. Since then there has been lots of research on effective treatment including research into artificial wetlands, weed harvesting, CoMag process treatment. The results of the CoMag demonstration project (which involves a magnetically enhanced coagulation process) at the Concord WWTP appear encouraging, allowing for improved removal of a variety of contaminants, including phosphorous.

Wallace Pond, Northborough

Northborough Stream Team (www.assabetriver.org/nst)
In spring 2002, OAR and the Mass Riverways Program teamed with the Northborough Citizens for Community Preservation (NCCP) and the town of Northborough to organize stream teams to conduct a visual survey of the Assabet River, the Cold Harbor and Howard Brooks. The goal of the survey was to determine priorities for protection and restoration of the waterways in Northborough. Maggie Kosovsky was hired by OAR to coordinate. Results of the surveys were reported and are available at the OAR office.

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Lake Boon Association (www.lakeboon.org)
LBA was founded in the 1921. The Lake was originally named "Boon's Pond" after Matthew Boon, an explorer from Charlestown, Massachusetts who settled there around 1660 and was killed by Indians near the pond during King Phillips War. In the mid 19th century, a dam was built to supply water to the Maynard mill during the dry months. In the 1870's the level of the dam was raised to the current height. At the end of the 19th century, when the mill was no longer operated by waterpower, the lake was maintained at a consistent level and became a popular recreation area. Within easy commuting distance by train from Boston, people found it a pleasant place to escape the summer heat and unhealthy conditions of the city. Problems: In the last thirty years most of the summer houses have become year-round residences. Outdoor "plumbing" gave way to septic systems, many of which are now antiquated, too close to the lake, and difficult to replace because of small lot sizes. The lake has problems with invasive fanwort and some variable-leaf milfoil. The LBA has been working on controlling the fanwort. They were not able to do a drawdown for weed control because several residents were concerned there were concerns that a drawdown would affect wells in the area. Herbicide treatment was started but not completed because of a threatened lawsuit. However, it seems to have temporarily knocked back the fanwort and possibly some of the milfoil. Projects: LBA did a watershed survey, getting new people involved. They are conducting a weedwatcher program which will be very important over the upcoming years as they assess the invasive plant problem and try to figure out how to manage it. They will also be trying an experimental plant-replacement project which is partially funded with a 319 grant. Other grant projects to address non-point source pollution include catch basin instillation, education, and tracking septic pumping in the watershed. The septic database will help publicize LBA's "group pump" for discounted septic system pumping.

Fort Meadow Reservoir, Marlborough

Fort Meadow Reservoir Neighborhood Association
The Fort Meadow Watershed Neighborhood Association is now mainly dormant except for an Earthday cleanup on the lake coordinated by one member. Fort Meadow (which is no longer a reservoir) has had milfoil and bladderwort problems which have been largely controlled with drawdown and herbicide treatment. Paul coordinates an Earthday cleanup on the lake.

Friends of White Pond and the Concord Wastewater Planning Committee (www.concordnet.org/dpw/w&s/html/WastewaterPlanningmain.htm)
Concord has been working on a state-mandated Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan since 1999. Wastewater management has been shifting away from centralized wastewater treatment to on-site treatment to alleviate some of the impacts of centralized treatment. About seventy percent of the town uses either individual or larger shared septic systems, commonly called Title 5 septic systems, all of which discharge the treated effluent to the ground. Septic systems in Concord commonly fail because of high groundwater and/or inadequate lot size, resulting in nitrogen and phosphorus getting into the groundwater. The town has assessed the wastewater disposal needs of all parcels with on-site systems and grouped the parcels with off-site needs into sub-areas for centralized sewering or a neighborhood treatment system (NTS). The White Pond area is one of those assessed as needing a local off-site neighborhood treatment system, primarily because the house lots are small and many of the septic systems are old and failing. Citizen's concerns include: the cost to the affected property owners of $14,000 or more (plus additional cost to taxpayers and the town's sewer fund); concern that McMansions will be encouraged by sewering; concern that sewering will allow "undevelopable" lots to become developable; and the siting of pump stations and neighborhood treatment system components. An example of the siting problem is that there is a 40-acre lot of town land near White Pond that cannot be used for a leaching field for a neighborhood treatment plant (it's in a Zone 2 for a Town well), but could be used for the sewage treatment component of the NTS. This is causing controversy in the neighborhood between those who want to preserve the land as is and those who see sharing the land with a small treatment building as a net good for the area.

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Mill Brook Task Force (www.concordnet.org/dplm/millbrook.html)
The Mill Brook has a long history. Concord was the first "off-tide" town in the Commonwealth, with Mill Brook providing water and power and the fertile valley attracting farming. The task force recently hosted a presentation by historians. The Task Force has a Mill Brook self-guided historic tour; the brochure and map is available on their webpage.
Projects: New initiatives include a proposed bridge across the Mill Brook in downtown Concord near the Visitor Center with a little picnic area adjacent to the brook. and signs identifying Mill Brook at all crossings. The Task Force is working with downtown businesses to ensure that trash is kept out of the brook. Other projects include a yearly clean up and the installation of a vortex sediment removal system to treat the stormwater in the lower basin, and a catch basin tagging and adoption project. Furture plans: the Task Force would like to extend the trail along the brook to "connect Concord to Concord." The trail would go across the brook behind Emerson's house, through the town forest, and under Route 2.

Concord River Environmental Stream Team (www.state.ma.us/dfwele/RIVER/rivConcord.htm) CREST formed in 1999 as an all-volunteer stream team based in Billerica. As implied by their motto, "Rivers Connect Us," one of their main roles has been to serve as a bridge for watershed education, monitoring, recreation, and conservation between upstream (Concord, Bedford, and Carlisle) and downstream (Lowell and Chelmsford) river communities. The Concord River represents 12,000 years of American history, and it is a major goal of CREST to bring historical and cultural awareness to the tasks of protecting the river's ecosystem. Forty people took part in CREST's ten-mile shoreline survey in 1999, but most of the recommendations made in their action plan have not been implemented. CREST has organized and participated in dozens of river clean-ups, deploying more than 200 volunteers to remove some 50 tons of rubbish and several thousand tires from the river and river shore between Bedford and Lowell. A two-year campaign to oppose the construction of a new drinking water plant in Billerica did not halt the project but brought about significant reductions in the plant's river and shoreline impacts. Projects include: supporting the Mercury Products bill and related legislation to phase out the last of the mercury products and other replaceable toxic chemicals; installing signage to inform people about the dangers of eating fish from the river; coordinating the Wild and Scenic River Council's Riverfest events on the Lower Concord (history, culture, literature, and fun!); and facilitating discussions among the dozens of stakeholders involved in the question of what to do with the Billerica Dam, an important historical landmark that also prevents fish and boat passage. Long-term goals include: getting the Concord, Sudbury, Assabet, and portions of the Merrimack rivers designated a National Heritage Area; forging the missing links in a shoreline trail that would follow the original native American river trail from Concord to Lowell; establishing a research, teaching, and resource center for river ecology; partnering with river groups around the world for mutual support, education, and inspiration.

Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust (www.lowelllandtrust.org)
The Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust was founded in 1990 with a special focus on the Concord River. The Concord in Lowell is less noticed (than the Merrimack River), running through backyards and behind factories. The Trust provides people with opportunities to remain connected to the land on which the city was built. They do this in four ways: 1) Offering programs on the Concord River, 2) Educating people about their current and historic impact on the natural environment, 3) Planting trees in Lowell's inner city neighborhoods to maintain a healthy urban forest, and 4) Acquiring and protecting conservation lands where nature is left undisturbed. Projects: The Trust is working on an alewife (anadromous fish) restoration and in 2002 started a volunteer program counting fish at Wamesit Falls in Lowell; they hold river cleanups and offer white water rafting (April & May) and are developing a Greenway along the Concord River. They are also restoring the Spalding House (c. 1760) as an environmental education center & historic house museum. Reaching & engaging youth is one of their goals as part of the Greater Lowell Regional Environmental Education Alliance.

River Meadow Brook Association (http://groups.msn.com/RiverMeadowBrookAssoc/info.msnw) River Meadow group came together with an interest in tracking animals along the river corridor and concerns about a new well field going in. The group is concerned with water quality, streamflow, buffer strip protection, and preservation of animal passage along the river corridor. Their work documenting rare species has lead to mapping of priority habitat in a planned development area. Projects: Promoting awareness of the benefits of protecting the brook corridor and
learning more about regulations that will promote protection.

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