What Watershed is Your Town In?


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Contact Steve Pearlman:
Email:pearlman@neponset.org
Phone: 781-575-0354 ext. 304
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Herring on the Nemasket
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The mission of the Watershed Action Alliance (WAA) is to protect and restore the watersheds of Southeastern Massachusetts through strategic collaboration and grassroots efforts. The Alliance also serves to strengthen the individual and collective capacity of its member groups, enabling them to be more effective watershed advocates.

The Alliance focuses on accomplishing the following three goals via public education and public policy advocacy:
• Rivers and Streams are Running Dry
• Is Water Conservation a Fad?
• Runoff of Polluted Rain Water
• How Plentiful is Fresh Water in SE MA?
 • Obsolete Dams Need to be Removed
• Ancient "Fish Runs" in Massachusetts
• Reduction of Water Pollution a Major Goal

More and More Rivers and Streams are Running Dry

Why is it Happening and What Can Be Done About It?

Most watersheds in southeastern Massachusetts suffer from low streamflows. The Weir, Taunton, North and Neponset River Watersheds are all rated as “highly” or “moderately stressed” by the state. Most other rivers, streams and ponds, including the Jones River pictured above, are “unassessed,” meaning that they are afforded no special protections despite the fact that local citizens can attest to the flow problems they face. Global warming will only make things worse.

Low streamflows kill fish and wildlife, limit recreational opportunities, and can significantly increase water pollution by concentrating pollutants like bacteria and excess nutrients in lower volumes of water (a drop of arsenic in a cup can kill you, but a drop in a lake is perfectly safe).

Lack of rain is not the problem; Massachusetts gets plenty of rain.
Legitimate uses of our public water supply are not the problem.
Lack of strong state and federal laws is not the problem.

So what seems to be the problem? Low streamflows are caused by depleted groundwater from underground “aquifers,” which provide the only source of water our rivers and streams have during dry weather. In a natural water cycle, rain sinks into the ground and replenishes our aquifers, which slowly release it to lakes and streambeds all year long, but a number of wasteful actions and irrational policies are disrupting this natural cycle:

Is Water Conservation Just Another Fad? Can My Family Really Do Anything Anyway to Make a Difference?

More and more southeastern Massachusetts rivers and streams are running dry or close to it every year. Nearly all our communities are now placing restrictions on outdoor watering in the summer. As the fastest growing region in the state, demand for water can only increase. Constructing new wells and treatment plants can cost multiple millions, and in most cases only means putting another straw in the same underground “aquifers” that are already running dry. More pumping does not provide “new” water, but it further reduces stream flows and harms critical natural habitats. Reducing water demand by increasing water efficiency and eliminating waste will cost far less and be more environmentally sound.

Your family (individually and together with your neighbors) can help maintain our drinking water supplies and ensure that rivers, streams and ponds have enough water for fish, wildlife and boating. Here are some frequently asked questions about water conservation:

Won’t conserving water demand changes in my family’s lifestyle?

Not in the least. The most effective way to conserve water is simply not to waste it. Did you know that if you water your lawn between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., most of it just evaporates into the atmosphere? Or that your lawn will be no greener if gets more than 1 inch of water (including rain) per week? How much sacrifice does it take to turn off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth or to not run your washing machine until it is full? Using water efficiently will also lower your water bills!

How does my family’s water use affect the water in streams and ponds?

In a natural water cycle, rainfall soaks into the ground and replenishes the “aquifers” that provide most of our water supply. Since water flows downhill whether it’s above or below the surface, groundwater slowly and steadily flows into our streams and ponds (that’s why there’s still water in them when it hasn’t rained for awhile). When we pump too much water out of an aquifer and fail to replenish it, surface water levels drop. Less water in streams and ponds also makes pollutants more concentrated and more dangerous.

What are the most effective things I can do at home to conserve water?

Outdoors: Overwatering lawns uses huge quantities of water during the driest time of the year. Watering two days a week before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. is all you’ll ever need to keep a healthy attractive lawn. Use no more than 1 inch of water a week, including rain (just put a plastic cup in the ground near your sprinkler to see when you’ve reached that level).

Indoors: Here, in order, is what uses the most water and what you can do to stop wasting it:
  • Toilets - If you’ve got an old toilet using more than 1.6 gallons per flush, replace it with one using 1.28. It will pay for itself in just a few years.
  • Washing machines - Make sure your washing machine is full before running it. If you need a new one, get one with an energy star water factor or 6.0 or less.
  • Showers - Buy a low flow (1.75 gallon per minute) shower head. It costs $10 to $20 and is simple to install. Limit shower times to a length you find reasonable.
  • Faucets - Buy aerators for about $2 apiece and put them on each faucet.
  • Leaks - Get them fixed!

How can I work with my neighbors to ensure that my community is not unnecessarily wasting water?

Local watershed associations are urging state and local officials to crack down on people and companies that waste large amounts of w ater. Please join them!
  • The state is being asked to require strict outdoor lawn watering restrictions (odd/even watering is practically useless) whenever streams and ponds are unnaturally low. Towns can do this themselves through adoption of an ordinance. See if your town is doing this.
  • Many towns discourage wasteful water use by making people pay more for excessive water use. The Town of Sharon, for example, charges 4 times as much for excessive water used in the summer than it charges average homeowners with moderate water use. Other towns should do likewise.
  • Many towns also give rebates for purchasing water-efficient appliances. Does your town?
  • Twenty year state permits for water suppliers in southeastern Mass come up for renewal in 2010, which presents watershed associations with a unique opportunity to demand stronger water conservation efforts. Please join their effort.

Runoff of Polluted Rain Water

Major Contributor to Water Shortages and Low Streamflows Responsible for 60% of Massachusetts Water Pollution

Runoff of polluted rain water (also known as “stormwater”) contributes to water shortages and low streamflows as well as flooding. Once a natural area is paved or a building is put up, 16 times as much rain runs off into rivers and streams, causing a rapid storm surge and sometimes flooding, instead of gradual replenishment (“recharge”) of groundwater. If adequately recharged, groundwater is slowly but steadily released into rivers and streams over the course of the year. During dry periods, the entire flow of a river may be from groundwater.

Stormwater Pollution. Once upon a time, water pollution was caused mainly by large companies spewing out industrial wastewater and cities discharging untreated sewage into our rivers and streams. But thanks to the federal Clean Water Act (and the hard work of river advocates), those discharges are now highly restricted. Today, stormwater runoff from paved areas, rooftops and other “impervious” surfaces is responsible for 60% of the water pollution in the state. This consists of bacteria from dog and other animal poop; excessive nitrogen from lawn fertilizers (which leads to nuisance water plants and algae), toxic herbicides and pesticides from farms, lawns and gardens; and oil, gas and trash from streets and parking lots. Every watershed in southeastern Massachusetts has rivers, streams and estuaries that violate one or more state Surface Water Quality Standards, largely due to stormwater runoff.

Proper Stormwater Management can greatly reduce these problems. Many watershed associations are working to get towns and cities to adopt strong stormwater management bylaws (either as a state requirement or as a local option) and you can help them do this in your town! Here’s what local bylaws can do:
  • For new development and redevelopment: The key is to mimic natural hydrology through Low Impact Development (LID) and other “Smart Growth” techniques. These include 1) minimizing impervious surfaces such as road widths; 2) keeping natural drainage contours instead of leveling a site before construction; 3) making impervious surfaces drain onto adjacent ground and not into storm sewers; 4) “clustering” houses to maximize natural areas on building lots; and 5) directing stormwater to small water quality treatment areas such as rain gardens located throughout the property. And LID almost always costs less so developers actually like it! Towns need to:
    • Adopt a municipal stormwater bylaw that applies DEP’s wetland stormwater treatment and groundwater recharge requirements to non-wetland areas (uplands).
    • Amend any existing municipal zoning and other bylaws which discourage Low Impact Development. For example, some towns require unnecessarily wide subdivision roads, mandate connections to storm sewers, ban “cluster” zoning” or treat stormwater treatment swales as “structures” that must be set far back from property lines.
    • Regularly inspect locally permitted projects to make sure stormwater systems are properly operated and maintained. “O&M” should be part of every local stormwater permit.
    • Be sure local rules make redevelopment projects improve currently inadequate stormwater treatment to the maximum extent possible.
    • Establish a “Stormwater Utility,” placing a fee on new development and redevelopment projects to fund munipal stormwater upgrades that will offset the additional stormwater coming from the new development.
  • For existing development: In areas like southeastern Mass that are already fairly densely developed, regulating only new development (and then only if it is located in or near a wetland or floodplain) is not going to get us the groundwater recharge or pollution reduction we need. Requiring proper management of stormwater from existing developments places the costs of stormwater treatment on those who are primarily responsible for it. It also reduces municipal (and thus taxpayer) costs if stormwater from private development is treated before being discharged into municipal storm sewers which must comply with federal water pollution requirements. Towns need to:
    • Require existing malls, stadiums and other sites with lots of paved surfaces to upgrade currently inadequate stormwater systems.
    • Make existing developments properly operate and maintain stormwater management systems.
    • Have adequate funding for their DPW to properly manage stormwater from municipal storm sewers.

What you can do at home to reduce stormwater runoff:

  • Clean up after your pets.
  • Minimize the amounts of fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides you use (read the boxes carefully.)
  • Wash your car on your lawn rather than your driveway.
  • Direct the water sprouts coming off your roof onto your lawn, or use a rain barrel to collect the rain and use it later to water your plants (that way you’re conserving water as well as reducing runoff.
  • Build an attractive rain garden at a low point on your yard.

Is Freshwater So Plentiful in Southeastern Massachusetts That We Can Dump Millions of Gallons a Day into the Ocean?

Did You Know That:

  • Nine major rivers in southeastern Mass are seriously stressed by low stream flows caused by our failure to replenish our groundwater aquifers?
  • All but two coastal communities (Fairhaven and Kingston) with sewers in southeastern Massachusetts send their wastewater to the ocean instead of treating it and putting it back in the ground for future use (and that many inland towns do so as well)?
  • The New England Patriots treat & recycle all the liquid waste from their Foxborough stadium’s urinals?
  • Nearly half the flow in MWRA sewers is not sewage at all, but clean groundwater that flows into broken pipes instead of recharging our groundwater (and that a similar situation exists in every town with old sewer pipes)?

In nature, rainwater soaks back into the ground, “recharging” underwater aquifers that slowly but steadily discharge to rivers and streams; in hot, dry weather it’s the only water source they have! Today, though, much of this rain “runs off” paved surfaces rather than replenishing our groundwater. Wasteful and unnecessary water use also results in these aquifers being over-pumped for public water supply. There are four solutions to this critical problem: more water conservation, better stormwater management, fixing broken sewer pipes, and “recycling” wastewater to the ground after it has been treated.

Like newspaper and plastics, water can be safely and cheaply recycled after it has been used. Just as the recycling movement began with ordinary citizens convincing their municipal officials to act, “Keeping Water Local” is the next big green initiative that you can be involved in.
  • Treat wastewater locally and discharge it back to the ground or to surface water upstream of the water supply wells or reservoirs it came from. New public wastewater treatment plants, and those wishing to expand their capacity, should be required to discharge their treated “effluent” strategically so that it replenishes water supplies and adds to stream flows. Sewers leading to large, centralized treatment plants should rarely be extended. A better alternative is “spot sewering,” where wastewater from malls, office parks or entire neighborhoods is sent via small sewers to a nearby “package treatment plant” for local disposal. For homes, wastewater can also be safely treated and returned to the aquifer by using well maintained septic systems (assuming adequate yard size and proper soil conditions); in the long term it’s usually much cheaper than paying sewer bills.
  • Recycle wastewater for additional uses. Treated wastewater -- particularly “greywater” from showers and sinks -- can also be used to irrigate lawns and plants or as “cooling water” in air conditioning systems. Even wastewater from urinals in large buildings can be cleaned and used again (as it is at Gillette Stadium and at the Wrentham Mall, among many others).
  • Fix infiltration of groundwater and inflow of rainwater into old sewer pipes. Infiltration is groundwater that enters a sewer system through cracked, crushed or leaky pipes, joints and manholes. Inflow is rain or surface water that enters the sewer system, generally through illegal connection of things like sump pumps and roof drains. Infiltration and inflow (known as “I/I”) not only steal huge amounts of water from water supplies and waterways, it reduces sewers’ carrying capacity so that in big rainstorms raw sewage may spill out into streets, lawns, basements and waterways. People living in communities with I/I also pay far more than they need to in sewer bills.

What’s being done locally that you can help with?

In Plymouth, the Eel River Watershed Association is trying to make the new Plymouth Rock Studios recycle the 166,000 gallons per day of water it will take out of the aquifer by treating and disposing of it on-site. The Association needs your help if you live in Plymouth.

The Neponset River Watershed Association has worked to improve septic maintenance in Walpole as an alternative to extending sewers. It also helped convince the Patriots to recycle their wastewater at Gillette Stadium. NepRWA has published a booklet entitled “Minimizing Municipal Costs for Infiltration & Inflow Remediation.” Copies can be obtained at http://www.neponset.org/Publications.htm - click on “NepRWA I-I (Infiltration/Inflow) Handbook”. Make sure your local Department of Public Works has a copy!

Save the Bay/Narragansett Bay has worked for nearly four decades advocating for wastewater management improvements. Contact them to learn what you can do to help.

The Taunton River Watershed Alliance is addressing the problem of low stream flows and depleted water supplies by studying the overall “water balances” that exist in 100 different areas of their watershed (so-called “sub-watersheds”), in order to understand which areas are experiencing a net gain or loss of water and to what degree. A natural water balance is one where local groundwater aquifers, rivers, and streams are being replenished to the same extent as they would be under purely natural conditions. Water balances are determined by looking at water supply withdrawals, wastewater disposal practices, and management of stormwater “run off” from roads, parking lots and other hard surfaces. The Alliance’s studies should help towns improve development and redevelopment designs while maintaining ecological integrity in the watershed. Contact the Taunton River Watershed Alliance for details.

See what watershed(s) your town is in.

Obsolete Dams in Southeastern Massachusetts Need to Be Removed

Today there are 3,000 dams in Massachusetts, of which 606 are located in the southeastern part of the state. Most of these dams are relics of our mill industries, no longer have any human benefit and are causing untold harm. Obsolete dams:

ENDANGER PUBLIC SAFETY
  • Potential failure poses danger of flooding and toxic contamination.
  • Toxic sediments behind many dams poison fish and those who eat them.

BLOCK MIGRATORY FISH
  • Threaten survival of herring, shad, smelt and eel.

DEGRADE RIVERS
  • Limit diversity of fish & other species.
  • Impede natural river processes.

REDUCE OUTDOOR FUN
  • Impede recreational boating.
  • Increase unsightly algae blooms.

COST MORE TO MAINTAIN THAN TO REMOVE

Learn how you can help!

Potential Failure of Dams Poses a Danger of Flooding and Toxic Contamination. Large unmaintained dams are very dangerous to downstream communities should they fail. Sediments that accumulate behind many dams are extremely polluted. Dams that are dangerous include:
  • Whittendam Dam on the Mill River which came so close to collapsing in 2005 that parts of the City of Taunton had to be evacuated; and
  • Baker and T&H Dams on the Neponset River in Boston and Milton, behind which lays tons of sediments contaminated with toxic PCBs, which have overtopped Baker in the past into condo basements, a bike path, and trolly tracks.

Toxic Sediments behind Some Dams are Poisoning Fresh Water Fish and Those Who Eat Them. The Department of Public Health has issued advisories urging limited consumption of fish in nearly every river in the state. Dams trap and concentrate contaminated sediments, which are ingested by invertebrates and then move up the food chain, becoming more lethal each step of the way.

Dams Threaten Survival of Migratory Herring, Shad, and other “anadromous”ocean fish that must spawn (lay their eggs) in fresh water. Click here to learn more about anadromous fish and the keys to their survival. These fish are a major food source for prized sport and commercial fish like cod and striped bass. Dams in southeastern Mass that are threatening fish include:
  • the Wapping Road Dam on the Jones River in Kingston
  • a small private dam on Third Herring Brook in Norwell and Hanover
  • the Baker and T&H Dams on the Neponset River in Boston and Milton
  • a number of dams on the Eel and Town Rivers in Plymouth
  • the Whittenton and three dams on the Mill River in Taunton

Dams Limit Biodiversity of Freshwater Fish and Other Species and Impede Natural River Processes. Dams can eliminate cold water fish like trout by raising and slowing down river flow, increasing water temperature, concentrating pollutants, and reducing dissolved oxygen. Impoundments behind dams can reduce wetlands (which serve as fish nurseries and which moderate flooding and filter pollution), cause algae blooms, and block migration of turtles and other river dwellers.

Dams Impede Recreational Boating. Massachusetts rivers have a dam every 1.2 miles, on average. These dams inhibit canoeing and kayaking by breaking up rivers and, when close to the coast, prevent boats from moving upstream from the ocean. When not well marked, they pose a serious danger to boaters. Stagnant water causes algae blooms that also impede boating and swimming.

Most Massachusetts Dams Serve No Purpose and are Cheaper to Remove than Maintain. Nearly all of our dams were built decades or centuries ago for farming or for water power to run mills and factories and are now obsolete. Many of these are state owned and are costing taxpayers big money. For example, the T&H Dam on the Neponset River would cost taxpayers $3.6 million to maintain for 30 years, compared to $1.3 million to remove.

What's being done locally that you can help with?

Join with local people like yourself working on river restoration efforts occurring RIGHT NOW:
  • In Boston and Milton: The Neponset River Watershed Association recently succeeded in getting 26 neighborhood, civic and other groups to endorse a plan to remove the “T& H” Dam and to lower the height of Baker Dam so that a “nature-like fishway” can be built to get herring and shad over it. This project would restore fish passage from Boston Harbor to Walpole along 17 miles of the Neponset River and miles more of its tributaries. But lots of work remains to be done.
  • In Hanover, Norwell and Scituate: Four dams block fish passage in these towns. To learn more about the impacts of the dams, the North and South Rivers Watershed Association (NWRWA) is looking for volunteers to read stream gauges. NRSWA is now working on restoration of Third Herring Brook in Norwell and Hanover. In addition, they hope to restore herring passage to First Herring Brook, which is blocked by Scituate’s Town Reservoir Dam. NSRWA is working with Scituate to find a way to restore herring while also meeting water supply needs.
  • In Kingston: The Jones River Watershed Association is working with the Kingston and state and federal partners to determine the best way to recreate fish passage and restore the Jones River at the site of the aging Wapping Road Dam. An alternatives analysis by a leading engineering firm found dam removal the most feasible and effective way to meet these goals.
  • In Plymouth, Wareham & Bourne: The state Riverways Program has listed the restoration of coldwater fish habitat in the Eel River as a “priority project” and the Eel River Watershed Association has joined the effort, which includes possible removal of dams and dikes. A number of statewide organizations are also working with Riverways Program to address four dams in Plymouth, Wareham and Bourne that are blocking fish passage on Red Brook; the Robbins Dam as well as the New Way Dike have already been removed. With help from the Riverways Program, Plymouth has also taken down the Billington St. Dam on Town Brook.
  • In Taunton: Restoring passage for migrating fish to reach the small streams and the dozens of lakes and ponds where they spawn is a priority for the Taunton River Watershed Alliance. The Mill River Habitat Restoration Project, which is attempting to restore access to 37 miles of herring, eel and freshwater fish habitat, is looking at options for creating passage blocked by four dams, including the infamous Whittenton Dam that nearly collapsed in 2005 and resulted in the evacuation of Taunton.
  • In various communities within the Narragansett Bay Watershed: Save the Bay: People for Narragansett Bay is working to restore fish runs by building fishways and eelways and by removing dams that are no longer needed. 91% of Narragansett Bay watershed's historic fish runs are in need of restoration and there are at least 41 streams and rivers (in Massachusetts and Rhode Island) that have potential for fish run restoration.

Watershed Associations throughout southeastern Massachusetts are also supporting dam removal legislation and funding. Rep. John Smizik’s “Sustainable Water Resources Act,” H. 834, which, among other good things, would require the Office of Dam Safety to consider environmental impacts when deciding what should be done with unsafe dams. Click here to learn more.

Ancient "Fish Runs" Imperilled in Massachusetts

Severe declines ocuring in ocean fish like herring that need access to fresh water to lay their eggs - Dozens of obsolete dams block their passage - Accidental “bycatch” by huge trawlers at sea is also a factor

For thousands of years, migratory salt water fish such as herring and shad swam far up Massachusetts’ coastal rivers each spring to fulfill their biological need to “spawn” (lay their eggs) in fresh water. Today these “anadromous” fish species are in steep decline because most of their spawning grounds are blocked by dams, and because of overfishing at sea, the decline in anadromous fish has also taken away a key food source for other popular sport and commercial fish, such as striped bass, bluefish and cod. Restoration of “fish runs” (the rivers and streams in which ocean fish migrate in order to spawn) is critically important, and would have a positive effect on the over-all health and vitality of rivers and streams, extending the range of eagles, osprey, and other birds and sometimes re-creating cold water trout streams.

In Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England successful efforts are being made to restore our fish runs. You can join other people working right now to restore migratory fish to rivers and streams in southeastern Massachusettts - CLICK HERE to learn how!

The history of migratory fish “runs” in Massachusetts. Herring, shad and other anadromous fish were once so plentiful in our rivers and streams in the spring-- forming virtually a solid mass from shore to shore -- that colonial farmers and Native Americans depended on them not only for food but also to fertilize their fields. In the seventeenth century, Israel Stoughton began to build a dam on the lower Neponset River to harness water power to run his mills (it was the second dam built in what is now the United States). So angry were upstream farmers from Norwood that they marched to Boston, where the dam was being built, and tried unsuccessfully to tear it down. So began the long battle waged first by farmers and now by ordinary citizens and fish biologists to remove dams.

Removal of dams blocking fish runs. The best way to restore fish runs is to remove dams and other obstructions that are blocking their way. Most Massachusetts dams are old anyway, and no longer serve any purpose. CLICK HERE to learn more about the negative effects of dams on fish, public health, safety and the environment, and what’s being done about it by your local watershed association. There are some dams however that are still used for flood control and other purposes. Often people are living on the ponds that the dams have created.

Alternatives to dam removal for restoring fish runs. Fish ladders and ramps are designed to get some adult fish species over dams in the spring and their offspring back to sea in the fall. They are often far less controversial than dam removal, especially where people are living on a pond behind a dam. Fish ladders and ramps are quite common and often highly successful in restoring fish runs, but not always. Oddly, these devices sometimes work on one river while being rejected by the same fish species on a similar river, and biologists don’t know why. Also, fish ladders and ramps frequently do not work for every species of fish that once spawned in a given river or stream. They may be used by strong swimmers like herring, be problematic for the more skittish shad, and be unusable for smaller fish like smelt.

Nevertheless, there have been many successes in southeastern Massachusetts, including the fish ladder that gets herring around a dam on the Nemasket River (part of the Taunton River Watershed) in Middleboro, and so they should be carefully considered as an option for restoring fish runs when dam removal doesn’t seem to be politically feasible.

Solving the “Bycatch” Problem. It won’t do a lot of good to recreate fresh water fish runs if herring and other anadromous fish are being slaughtered at sea by trawler fleets dragging football field size nets. Even though these trawlers are trying to catch entirely different species of fish, their accidental killing of river herring is imperiling commercial and recreational fish (such as cod and striped bass) that depend on river herring for food. That’s why a number of watershed associations in southeastern Massachusetts have joined small commercial fishermen and those who fish for sport in the “Herring Alliance.” The Herring Alliance is working for more far-sighed fishing methods that would eliminate or greatly reduce river herring bycatch at sea.

CLICK HERE to learn what your local watershed association is doing to restore a fish run near you.

Reduction of Water Pollution is a Major Goal of WAA

The American public is virtually unanimous in their support of stronger water protection. Yet there are so many sources of water pollution that it can be difficult to achieve that goal. As they do with stormwater, watershed associations generally concentrate most of their efforts dealing with local problems (identifying illegal discharges, commenting on permits for new projects, etc.). But we also work at the state, and sometimes even the federal level to try to change policy or increase enforcement of existing laws dealing with the following major sources of water pollution.

Major Sources of Water Pollution

Stormwater runoff is responsible for about 60% of our water pollution, according to Massachusetts state environmental agencies. This includes bacteria from dog and other animal poop as well as illegal discharges of sewage to storm sewers; pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides from lawns and gardens; and gasoline, oil and trash from our streets. Click here to learn more about stormwater runoff and what we should do to control it.

Low stream flows concentrate pollutants and make them far more dangerous. A drop of arsenic in a lake won’t hurt, but a drop in a glass can kill you. Many states have set water quality standards that take stream flows into account, but Massachusetts isn’t one of them, a situation we are trying to change. Click here to learn how we can maintain adequate, natural water levels in our rivers, streams, lakes and ponds.

Sewage getting into our waterways from a variety of sources including:
  • illegal connection of sewage pipes to storm sewers or directly into waterways;
  • “sanitary sewer overflows” (i.e., spilling of sewage out of manholes) which turn have many causes, including
    • too many people connecting to too small sewer mains, usually as a result of uncontrolled new development;
    • illegal stormwater connections to sanitary sewer pipes (“inflow”) which reduces the room left in the pipes to carrying sewage during storms;
    • “infiltration” of groundwater into old cracked and broken sewer pipes, which again reduces their capacity to carry sewage.
  • inadequately maintained septic systems. The state has strict laws for new septic systems, but no requirement that they be maintained, which is essential. The state or individual towns should make septic system maintenance mandatory.

The discharge of sewage from any of these sources into our surface water without treatment violates the Clean Water Acts, which should be strictly enforced.

Inadequate treatment of industrial wastewater that is discharged directly into waterways or into sewer systems that discharge to waterways. While this problem is supposed to be controlled by federal surface water discharge permits, permit conditions are not always complied with and the EPA has inadequate staff to do comprehensive enforcement. Furthermore, many industries don’t even know what all the toxic chemicals are that they are using, and thus their treatment practices are often ineffective. Again, all these discharges violate the Clean Water Acts, which should be strictly enforced.

Massachusetts regulations require industries to identify and report dangerous chemicals in their wastewater discharges to sewers, but the rules are not yet being implemented. This is unacceptable.

Discharges of medicines and “personal care products” into our waterways are largely unregulated. In many cases it isn’t clear if they pose a real danger and, even if they do, effective treatment methods have not always been identified. Discharges of medicines into water bodies are particularly difficult to deal with; while some of them come from people flushing unused medicines down the toilet, a large percentage of the medicines we take are not absorbed by our bodies but rather are eliminated into our toilets. Addressing this problem has become a major new frontier for water pollution control.

Dangerous toxic chemicals remain in the sediments below most old industrial rivers in Massachusetts, of which there are many. State law does not require that these chemicals be cleaned up except in two situations. First, if they pose an “imminent hazard” to human health (although MassDEP does not consider pregnant women and children eating contaminated fish they catch to pose an imminent hazard, as long as warnings have been posted along the shore by the local board of health). Or secondly, if the chemical can be traced to specific old industrial sites on the banks of the river, something that is extremely difficult to determine and even more difficult to prove. If the party responsible for toxic contamination of sediments beneath our rivers and streams cannot be identified, we believe that government has a moral responsibility to clean them up if they pose a substantial risk to public health or the environment.

Mercury is still being introduced to our waterways at dangerous levels, mainly due to the burning of coal by power plants (most of them in the midwest). Only the federal government can effectively deal with this interstate problem.