Gateway Park, Everett
Get to know the Mystic River!
As part of the new Mystic River Watershed Urban Trail Map and Activity Guide, MyRWA is offering free public tours of the featured trails. Join us for this 1-mile leisurely walk on Thursday, July 21st at 7pm. Meet at the park kiosk behind Target, Gateway Shopping Plaza, Everett, MA. Family friendly!
Call 781-316-3438 for more information.
Department of Conservation and Recreation, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
In collaboration with Federal Realty Trust Investment
PUBLIC MEETING ONPOTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS TO RIVERFRONT PARK INMYSTIC RIVER RESERVATION
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Winter Hill Yacht Club
85 Foley Street, Somerville
At the public meeting, DCR will present, and obtain public input on, possible concepts for expansion and improvements to Riverfront Park in the Mystic River Reservation, in the context of the Mystic River Master Plan. The proposed concepts are being developed as part of a partnership involving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Federal Realty Trust Investment’s Assembly Square Mixed Use Development proposal.
If you have questions about the public meeting, please email DCR.Updates@state.ma.us or call 617-626-4974.
Through funding from Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET), the Mystic River Watershed Association developed an Urban Trail Map for the Mystic River and its tributaries. The goal of this map is to help watershed residents find their way to river access points in order to encourage healthy enjoyment of the river. The map will highlight unique ecological features and environmental conditions from Medford to Chelsea. The map and activity guide will be offered in english and spanish, and provide a structured learning opportunity for families, teachers, and community-based organizations.
Thursday, July 14th from 1:00 to 3:00pm at Torbert MacDonald Park, Medford.
1:00pm Gather at Torbert MacDonald Park parking lot for a short walk to the presentation site.
1:15pm Presentation of the Mystic River Watershed Urban Trail Map and Activity Guide followed by comments by assembled guests.
2:00pm Test drive the Map and Guide: a short guided walk through Torbert MacDonald Park.
MyRWA's Patrick Herron captured underwater footage of migrating blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) from the Mystic Lakes dam.
Through a project funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Region 1, MyRWA is working with several community organizations on a stormwater education project. As part of this program, Tri-City Community Action Program (Tri-CAP) worked with the Beebe School in Malden during the 2010- 2011 school year in conjunction with the Partnership for Community Schools in Malden’s (PCSM) Channel Surfing afterschool program.
Tri-CAP’s environmental justice coordinator, Nick Cohen, worked with a group of Beebe School students to learn about stormwater pollution in relation to the Malden River. The students learned about these issues by conducting hands-on activities in the classroom, visiting the Malden River, meeting with Malden city officials, and taking water quality samples with MyRWA. For their final project, the students restored a wet meadow area adjacent to Fellsmere Pond to improve stormwater runoff. Additionally, the students created images about their project for interpretive signage to be placed in the park kiosk. Nick Cohen, a Malden-based landscape designer and two Malden High School students supervised the students in this project. The City of Malden endorsed the project as consistent with the Open Order of Conditions for water quality improvements and general maintenance of the pond.
Volunteers learn how to take water samples.Please join MyRWA on Saturday, August 13 for a Citizen Scientist Training Workshop!
This Workshop allows interested volunteers to learn about water quality monitoring methods and concepts. By completing this workshop, you’ll be prepared to join MyRWA’s Baseline Monitoring Program. The Baseline Monitoring Program requires a monthly commitment between 6am and 8am. No experience is necessary - all are welcome! You have to register for this event.
When: Saturday, August 13th, 9:30am - 12pm
Where: Winchester Boat Club, 65 Cambridge Street, Winchester, MA
Space is limited! Please register today by emailing Kim@Mysticriver.org or call 781-316-3438.
IBM volunteers remove water chestnutsIn a worldwide Centennial Day of Service event, 30 IBM volunteers gathered on the Mystic River in Medford on Wednesday June 15th to remove a section of invasive water chestnuts. IBMers took to the river on a beautiful sunny day with canoes and kayaks as they hand pulled plants to remove a record 563 baskets of water chestnuts. Thanks to all who participated! Please click the link to the time-lapsed video here.
*Additional corporate volunteer events are greatly needed. Please contact our office to set a date this summer so we can rid the river of this invasive plant.
Chelsea's AP Environmental Science class heads out on the Mystic River, October 2010.During the 2010-2011 school year MyRWA engaged students in Chelsea High School’s AP Environmental Studies class. The students learned about the Mystic River Watershed, water quality monitoring methods and concepts, and local ecology through this hands-on environmental education initiative. In fall 2010 the students examined water quality of Chelsea Creek and the Mystic River via a boat-based tour. For many of them, this was their first time on the Mystic and allowed them the opportunity to see their community, and the water that connects them, from a different perspective.
By spring 2011 the students were ready to investigate salt marshes - an important habitat in the Boston area and one that is historically significant. In June the students took a culminating field trip to Thompson Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Here, with guidance from the National Park Service, the students compared a restored and pristine salt marsh. The students measured plant diversity via a transect line study, analyzed dissolved oxygen levels in the marsh, and had a blast searching for crabs, snails, fish and other organisms in the salt marsh. They ended the field trip with a trip to Mill Creek to observe the salt marsh in Chelsea.
Students study the saltmarsh plants via a transect line.“Working with the Mystic River Watershed Association and the National Park Service was a wonderful boost to our AP Environmental Science Program. The students and I really benefited from these partnerships. Students were able to directly experience the occupations that are a part of Environmental Science. I hope that we can make the program even stronger next year through our continued cooperation,” stated Catherine Erickson, AP Environmental Science Instructor at Chelsea High School.
It is MyRWA’s hope that the students ended the school year with a better understanding and appreciation of the Mystic River Watershed and environmental studies. Many thanks to Catherine, Dawn and David for making this project possible!
See photos of our trip to Thompson Island here.
This project is part of the Lower Mystic Initiative which is generously funded by The Boston Foundation.
On Saturday June 4, 2011 Groundwork Somerville, the Mystic River Watershed Association and the Friends of the Mystic River hosted a successful community event to remove invasive water chestnuts from the Mystic River. Using canoes, kayaks, and small boats, nearly 50 volunteers pulled water chestnuts out of the water by hand and then deposited the harvested plants into a dump truck.
Credit goes to all the volunteers including the MWRA which assisted with trucks, boats and manpower to support the event.
This event was sponsored by Groundwork Somerville, the Mystic River Watershed Association, the Friends of the Mystic River, the Riverside Yacht Club, the Mystic Wellington Yacht Club, the Winter Hill Yacht Club, and the Medford Boat Club.
If you missed this event and would like to join us for another water chestnut harvesting effort, please contact us at: contact@mysticriver.org.
Stay tuned for future community hand-pulling events!
Please join MyRWA on Wednesday, June 8th for a Citizen Scientist Training Workshop. This Workshop allows interested volunteers to learn about water quality monitoring methods and concepts. By completing this workshop, you’ll be prepared to join MyRWA’s Baseline Monitoring Program. The Baseline Monitoring Program requires a monthly commitment between 6am and 8am. No experience is necessary - all are welcome! You have to register for this event.
When: Wednesday, June 8, 6-8:30pm
Where: Cambridge Health Alliance conference room, 195 Canal Street Malden, MA
Space is limited! Please register today by emailing Beth@Mysticriver.org.
TOGETHER FOR THE MYSTIC RIVER Photo: Maillet, Sommes, and Morgan wetland in Reading, Credit: Isaiah Johnson
COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW Photo: Alewife Stormwater Wetland, Credit: Stantec