MyRWA's Outreach Coordinator is working with students enrolled in a Social Marketing course as part of Tufts University's Communications and Media Studies Program. The students have convinced MyRWA to join Instagram, a popular photo sharing media. Please follow us by searching for user "MyRWA." If you're not connected with MyRWA on Facebook and Twitter yet, be sure to do so!
Giving Back on Earth Day
To celebrate Earth Day (April 22nd) a group of Bank of America volunteers helped revitalize a rain garden in Arlington. Dawning red T-shirts and work gloves, the group dug an 8” trench to be filled with gravel to curb erosion in the garden, as well as raked, weeded and pruned the site. The rain garden was planted in May 2013 through a grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's 5 Star Restoration Program, and serves to collect, absorb and clean stormwater runoff from the parking lot at the Hardy Elementary School. The volunteers participated through Bank of America’s Global Impact initiative, which logged over 1.5 million employee hours of volunteerism in 2012. The Mystic River Watershed Association would like to thank the volunteers, Bank of America and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for their support! Be sure to check out the rain garden at the Hardy School at 52 Lake Street, Arlington.
View photos of the event on FlickR!
Support MyRWA by using Amazon Smile
How does AmazonSmile work? When first visiting AmazonSmile, customers are prompted to select a charitable organization from almost one million eligible organizations. In order to browse or shop at AmazonSmile, customers must first select a charitable organization. For eligible purchases at AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the customer’s selected charitable organization.
Mystic River Watershed Association.
What's up with water chestnuts in the Mystic River?
Come hear from Patrick Herron, PhD, Water Quality Monitoring Director at the Mystic River Watershed Association on Tuesday, May 6th to learn about plans for water chestnut removal work on the Mystic this summer. You've likely seen this invasive plant on the river for the past several years - forming a mat at the water’s surface that impedes boating and damages the health of the river. We'll find out what has been accomplished in the past and what plans are for 2014 water chestnut removal efforts. This event is part of the Association's monthly Committee Meeting and is free and open to the public.
For more information about the Mystic River Watershed Association's water chestnut removal project see: /water-chestnut-removal-project/.
Please join us!
Tuesday, May 6th, 7-8PM
Tufts University, Lincoln Filene Center, Rabb Room
Questions? Call 781-316-3438.
Soap Up the Rain Arlington! Presentation April 8th
Arlington Engineering Division continues to host its Stormwater Awareness Series. To kick off the 2014 season, the session will detail the “Soak Up The Rain” program. Anne Leiby and Cindy Brown work at the US EPA Region 1 office in Boston. Along with other EPA colleagues they are responsible for the development and implementation of the EPA Soak Up the Rain stormwater campaign in New England. The presentation will be held on April 8th 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Arlington Town Hall, Selectmen's Hearing Room, 2nd floor. For additional information on the Arlington Stormwater Awareness series, including links to ACMi online archives of past sessions please visit arlingtonma.gov/engineering.
Announcing MyRWA’s Corporate Volunteer Water Chestnut Program!
Volunteers from IBM help remove water chestnuts.The Mystic River Watershed Association has a unique opportunity for your business, church or community group. We are seeking groups of up to 100 to help us remove water chestnut, an invasive plant, from the Mystic River while offering a fun team-building day!
The Need
Water chestnut is an invasive plant that has recently exploded in the Mystic River. It forms huge stands that impede boats and have negative effects on fish, native plants, and water quality. Managing water chestnut is a major goal of river front towns and cities, boat clubs, river advocates, and citizen groups.
The Opportunity
One of the most effective ways to remove water chestnut is also fun! A four-hour event with 25-100 people in canoes can have a tremendous effect, clearing acres of this invasive plant. By sponsoring a corporate event, your company can participate in a major green initiative while providing a great team-building opportunity and rewarding day on the river for your employees. We have worked with many organizations and companies over the past four years, including IBM, FedEx and Citizens Bank, and supply all the materials and expertise necessary.
The Impact
In four years, hundreds of volunteers have removed thousands of baskets of water chestnut, clearing many acres of the river. We are aiming to expand our efforts every year. Studies have shown that the key to ultimate success in management is sustained effort at the same site over several years. Join us this year to help us meet our goals!
For More Information
Elizabeth Glivinski, Water Chestnut Project Coordinator, waterchestnut@mysticriver.org, 781-316-3438.
Into the Mystic: Environmental Art and Film Festival
The Medford Arts Center (MACI) is seeking artists of various media for the first annual juried “Into the Mystic” Environmental Art and Film Festival for June 20-22, 2014 which will be held at Hyatt Place, 116 Riverside Ave, Medford. The festival is a collaboration of MACI, Green Medford, Mystic River Watershed Association, The City of Medford’s Office of Energy and Environment, and the Friends of the Mystic River.
The theme of the art is “the Mystic River” in any season. It can be representational, literal, or use found materials from the river area. Each artist may submit two pieces by April 15th. For a registration form contact Mike Oliver at info@mysticartgallery.org or 617-605-7325.
Schedule of Events
- Thursday, June 19th, 3 - 7PM, preview at Circle the Square in Medford Square.
- Friday, June 20th, 6 - 9PM, opening night reception with films Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia, Re-storying the Anacostia River, and The Mystic Unseen.
- Saturday, June 21st, 7PM, Featured Film: The Mystic Herring Run: The Return of 2012 and Beyond, with filmmaker Shervin A. Arya.
Art will be exhibited in the Hyatt Place Lobby and Screening Rooms from June 20-22. Admission is free to all events.
The organizers would like to express our appreciation to the Hyatt Place for donating the space for this special event and for its continued support of the Medford community.
Panel on Stormwater Draws a Crowd
On Saint Patrick’s Day eve over 50 people gathered in the Malden Library to hear about innovative ways to address stormwater runoff in the Commonwealth. The panel presentation brought together the three Boston area watershed groups representing the Mystic, Neponset and Charles Rivers, as well as an environmental engineer. Hosted by the Mystic River Watershed Association and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), many project stories, lessons learned and challenges were shared.
Stormwater runoff represents one of the largest sources of pollution in urban areas such as the metro Boston region. While rainfall is relatively clean, stormwater picks up pollutant material on road surfaces, lawns and parking lots and delivers it to nearby water bodies. The result is that many of the water bodies we care about are contaminated with fecal bacteria, nutrients and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms, often making them unsafe to swim in or boat on.
One way to capture and treat some of this stormwater is by utilizing a stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) or retrofit. These structures include rain gardens, vegetated swales, tree box filters, permeable pavement, and curb extensions. BMPs are designed to reduce stormwater volume, peak flows, and/or nonpoint source pollution through evapotranspiration, infiltration, detention, and filtration.
Patrick Herron, Water Quality Monitoring Director at the Mystic River Watershed Association kicked-off the presentations by detailing the project process the Association has taken with initiating stormwater BMP design. In Chelsea, the Association partnered closely with the Chelsea Collaborative and Charles River Watershed Association to build community involvement. The goal of the project was to both address stormwater and improve the aesthetics of the street to make it a more “livable street.” Community engagement was a high priority for this project, and included public meetings, design charrettes and utilizing youth to help assess possible sites and educate the community about the project. Herron stated, “It’s helpful to identify a local champion for projects – someone who knows the community and is excited about the project. This person, we have found, can be essential in gathering support and enthusiasm for projects and really helping us to open doors in a community.” For more information on the Mystic River Watershed Association’s stormwater projects see www.mysticriver.org/projects/.
Heading south to the Charles River Watershed Association, Pallavi Kalia Mande, Director of Blue Cities©, presented on several stormwater Best Management Practices that they have undertaken. Their Blue Cities© program uses water centric urban design that aims to restore urban greenscapes and natural hydrologic function. The Association has implemented this approach across the subwatershed, neighborhood, and site-specific scale. For more information on the Charles River Watershed Association’s Blue Cities© program see www.crwa.org/bluecities.html.
Ian Cooke, Executive Director at the Neponset River Watershed Association highlighted their involvement in the construction of a wetland to treat road runoff, as well as the installation of fourteen tree box filters. The Association has worked with a number of towns to locate the best locations to install stormwater BMP retrofits - typically working with the DPW, Engineering and Conservation Commission staff to make recommendations for BMPs. They place an emphasis on publicly-owned locations as potential BMP locations. For more information on the Neponset River Watershed Association’s stormwater projects see www.neponset.org/projects/water-quality/stormwater/stormwater-bmps/.
Finally, Tom Pawlina, Principal at ATP Environmental wrapped up the presentation component of the night. Tom has been involved with stormwater mitigation for over 12 years in Duxbury and Kingston in Cape Cod Bay. Much of this work began out of the concern of the health of oysters, which are grown in the Bay.
The Boston area continues to implement innovative ways to treat stormwater runoff. Through this presentation, local watershed associations were able to share their experiences with the public as well as with each other. In all four presentations, emphasis was made on having clear and regular communications with project partners and city or town staff and to expect delays in your project. With the forecast of more frequent and intense storms, as well as expanding impervious areas, addressing stormwater through Best Management Practices is an essential aspect of caring for our shared water resources.
Calling all volunteers - Mystic Community Earth Day!
For the 5th year in a row, community groups from throughout the watershed are joining forces to coordinate Mystic Community Earth Day. Earth day is April 22nd, and many stewardship events are scheduled for Saturday, April 26th. Lend a hand to beautify your local environment – volunteers are needed to accomplish this work. Find an event in your community here!
MyRWA is partnering with the City of Somerville, Groundwork Somerville, Gentle Giant Rowing Club and KEEN Footwear to host a river clean-up on Saturday, April 26th from 9 a.m. until noon. Please join us at the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse, 32 Shore Drive, Somerville. All supplies will be provided. Parking will be permitted on Shore Drive for this event. RSVP and share this event on Facebook!
Flatbread Pizza Fundraiser Set For May 13
Enjoy Pizza and Bowling for a Cause!
On Tuesday, May 13 head to Flatbread Pizza at Sacco's Bowl Haven in Davis Square for a Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) fundraiser. That’s right, the more flatbread you eat the more money will be raised to support the Mystic River Watershed Association and our efforts to protect and restore the Mystic River Watershed!
Eat at or get take-out from Flatbread Pizza, 45 Day Street, Somerville, between 5pm and 11pm and a portion of your flatbread cost will automatically be donated to MyRWA.
Reservations are accepted for groups of 10 or more.
RSVP to this event on Facebook.
