Bike Path Gains Key Support

A 7-mile bikeway that would run through Stoneham, Winchester, and Woburn has received crucial community support, paving the way to make the 21-year-old concept a reality.

The Tri-Community Bikeway had strong advocates in Stoneham and Winchester but suffered from a lack of organized support in Woburn until members of the Woburn Residents' Environmental Network decided to take up the charge last week as the project reached a critical phase.

"We are trying to get the whole thing together so it doesn't fall apart," said Rodney Flynn, treasurer of the Woburn organization. "We are the missing piece between the Stoneham group and the Winchester group."

Continued here...

By Brad Kane Globe Correspondent

Brad Kane can be reached at brad.j.kane@gmail.com.

New Website

MyRWA is pleased to welcome you to our new website! On these pages you will find the latest in Mystic River Watershed news and events, as well as recent and archived water quality data, monitoring reports, maps, and policy comment letters. You will also be able to read our newsletters and donate online. Be sure to check back with us regularly, as we'll be continually updating the content to reflect the latest happenings in the watershed. This site would not be possible without the dedication of volunteers who spent countless hours working on each page. Many thanks to them, and to everyone else whose support has enabled MyRWA to work towards a clean and healthy Mystic.

America's Beautiful National Park Quarter

Announcing an opportunity to nominate a nationally-designated Mystic River Watershed site on a United States quarter!

The following sites are eligible:

McLean Hospital National Register District, Belmont

Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge

Powder House Park, Somerville

The Rosebud, Somerville

Somerville Theatre, Somerville

Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House, Stoneham

Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District, Stoneham

Check the website below for the voting results across America.

MassDEP Beautiful National Parks Quarter

Mystic Science Meeting

On February 11, 2009, the US EPA Region 1 hosted the first Mystic Watershed Science Committee meeting from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm. The meeting featured presentations and updates on science and research initiatives across the watershed. If you would like to get involved with future science meetings, please email contact mysticriver.org. You can also get more information about the EPA and the Mystic River Watershed Association at the EPA's website at: www.epa.gov/region1/mysticriver

Potentially Toxic Cyanobacteria Found in the Mystic River in Medford & Somerville

During routine water quality monitoring of the Mystic River in Medford and Somerville on November 13th, 2008, Mystic River Watershed Association staff and volunteers observed widespread cyanobacteria blooms ranging from Medford Center to the Blessing of the Bay boathouse. Certain types of cyanobacteria can be toxic and may pose a potential health risk to humans that come in contact with the water. The cyanobacteria can also be harmful to dogs that ingest the water.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, "Health concerns vary depending on the type of exposure (contact or ingestion) and the concentrations of microcystis and its toxin, microcystin. Contact with high levels of the cyanobacteria algae has been found to contribute to eye, ear, and skin irritation. More serious health effects (e.g. muscle cramps, twitching) can also occur. If elevated levels of the algal toxin, microcystin, are also present in the water, serious liver damage can result."

The Mystic River Watershed Association recommends that people and their pets avoid contact with water that is covered in a blue-green film of algae.

If you have any questions please email us at contact@mysticriver.org or call 781-316-3438.

Annual Meeting 2008

MyRWA's annual meeting was held on October 22, 2008. Concerned citizens, volunteers, and members attended and heard about the successful projects MyRWA has undertaken over the past year. Bob Zimmerman, the Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association, spoke on his experiences building CRWA into a successful science-based advocacy organization with a strong staff and dozens of notable achievements. Attendees also had the opportunity to watch several documentaries filmed in the Mystic Watershed by graduate students at Emerson College. MyRWA recognized the following outstanding individuals with awards: Pete Mellor - Volunteer of the Year; Michael O'Brien - Unsung Hero of the Year; Bob Nesson - Supporter of the Year; Roger Frymire - Scientific Achievement Award.

MyRWA Appoints Full Time Executive Director

The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), is pleased to announce the appointment of EkOngKar Singh Khalsa as full time Executive Director.

The addition of a full time Executive Director to its staff will greatly assist the association in its efforts to restore clean water in the Mystic River Watershed, and to protect the natural resources in this region.

Mr. Khalsa brings to the office of Executive Director more than 25 years professional experience in environmental affairs, low impact development and brownfields restoration. He has also many years experience in non-profit management both as staff and as a volunteer. Mr. Khalsa looks forward to his work with MyRWA.

“The focus of the Mystic River Watershed Association upon the health of an entire urban watershed is unique. MyRWA’s efforts to address environmental conditions in an important working river, will, of course, benefit all the members of this diverse natural and human community.

"Additionally, there are strong economic reasons to pursue this objective as the value of significant public and private investments made in and adjacent to the watershed will be substantially improved and better protected when the Mystic River is clean.” Mr. Khalsa said.

Working in collaboration with its many local, state, federal and community partners MyRWA will continue, through the efforts of its Board, staff and volunteers, to tackle longstanding environmental challenges in the watershed. MyRWA. Board President John Reinhardt said, “The addition of EkOngKar Khalsa to our staff will bring more strength and vitality to our organization at a critical time. We are very pleased that EK has joined us”.

State Legislation to Improve Mystic Water Quality

Rep. Denise Provost and Sen. Jarrett Barrios, along with Senators Robert Havern and Pat Jehlen and Reps. Will Brownsberger, Paul Casey, Eugene O’Flaherty, Carl Sciortino, and Timothy Toomey, are proposing innovative legislation to create a Mystic River Water Quality Commission. The commission will investigate ways to improve water quality to allow fishing, boating & swimming, and to create more opportunities for recreation in the Mystic River Watershed. The Commission will include legislators, EPA, state agencies, and community representatives, and will report its findings to the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. The Commission will consider water quality throughout the watershed, including all its tributaries and lakes, and not just the Mystic River itself.

Please encourage your legislators to support House Bill 841, and thank them if they already have.

Contact MyRWA or Rep. Provost’s aide Liz Monnin at elizabeth.monnin@state.ma.us or 617-722-2810 for more information about how to encourage passage of this important legislation.

Latest Baseline Index Report

The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) has been monitoring water quality at ten sites in the Mystic River Watershed on a monthly basis since the summer of 2000. With the help of a dedicated group of nearly 30 volunteers, the Mystic River and several tributaries are tested for bacteria levels (E. coli), nutrients (total phosphorus and nitrate-nitrite), total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, and water temperature. The 2007 Baseline Index Report provides a qualitative summary of these water quality parameters over a seven-year period. The report includes color-coded Baseline Index tables for each year, and provides a general assessment of water quality trends.

The 2007 Baseline Index Report indicates that none of the 10 monthly monitoring sites is pollutionfree in the Mystic Watershed. Each site has received a poor score for nutrient pollution in each year of monitoring. Bacteria contamination is also highly concerning, particularly during wet weather. Upper Mystic Lake often receives an excellent score for swimming and boating in dry weather, but some

tributaries regularly receive a poor score for both swimming and boating in dry weather.

Although there has been no overall improvement in water quality over the past seven years, this Baseline Index report marks an important contribution to our understanding of where problems in nutrient pollution, bacteria contamination, and low dissolved oxygen levels are the most pressing in the Mystic River Watershed. This information has enabled us to design increasingly rigorous sampling programs to precisely target pollution ‘hot spots’ and report our findings to municipalities and other stakeholders.

The information in this report also signals a call to action on the part of municipalities, state and federal agencies, citizens, and concerned community groups. The data we have collected since 2000 speak to the need for dedicated support from all stakeholders to clean up the Mystic Watershed. We encourage all stakeholders to contact us to learn more about opportunities to help reach MyRWA’s goal of a fishable and swimmable Mystic River.