The first official Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee meeting was convened by the US EPA in downtown Boston on March 11, 2009. This momentous event was the culmination of many meetings amongst groups active in the Mystic River Watershed such as the Chelsea Collaborative, MyRWA, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the Charlestown Waterfront Coalition (CWC), and EPA New England. These groups agreed that there was a need to convene a Steering Committee to guide the strategic direction of collaborative efforts to improve water quality and environmental conditions in the Mystic River Watershed. The Steering Committee will operate as a coordinating and information exchange organization to help establish strategic direction and priorities as well as to recommend key projects and actions needed to improve environmental conditions in the Mystic River Watershed.
The three-hour meeting was attended by an impressive cast of characters including MyRWA, Chelsea Greenspace, CWC, Friends of Upper Mystic Lake, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), Woburn Residents’ Environmental Network (WREN), Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), EPA New England, Executive Office of Energy and the Environment, MAPC, MWRA, MassPort, and the City of Chelsea. MyRWA's Executive Director, EkOngKar Singh Khalsa, will continue to represent the organization at future Steering Committee.
The highlight of the event was a Roundtable Brainstorm Discussion of activities to be undertaken in 2009. Many ideas surfaced during the discussion, illuminating the need for continued engagement and activism in the watershed.
To learn more about the EPA's Mystic Initiative, visit the US EPA's Mystic Watershed website.
