Mystic River Partnership Program Updates
2017
2016 Water Quality Report Card data is up
On June 29, EPA announced the 2016 Mystic River Watershed Report card with an event at Mary O’Malley State Park in Chelsea, MA. EPA has assigned a report card grade for the Mystic River Watershed since 2006. For the last three years, grades have been assigned to 14 individual stretches of the river and its tributaries.
Information on watershed grades can be found here.
Updated Priorities
On June 15, the steering committee held a meeting about the watershed quality report card and environmental justice efforts in the watershed. The committee discussed updates to the mission and priorities in the Water Quality and Open Space sections. The committee also went over their Environmental Justice Work Plan with Deneen M. Simpson and featured the City of Everett.
Mystic River Science Forum
On May 4, 2017, scientists studying the Mystic River Watershed came together to network and share findings. Presentation topics explored climate resiliency in the watershed, fish toxicology, phosphorus loading, and more.
2016
Initiative Open Space
An Initiative Open Space subcommittee meeting was help on September 29th. During the meeting, Chelsea GreenRoots, and environmental justice organization was introduced as a new partner. GreenRoots is working with Urban Waters on restoration efforts for the Mystic River and other water quality and access improvements. Various other reports on open space activities and future projects were discussed.
2015 Water Quality Report Card
The 2015 Water Quality Report Card Grade was announced on May 31, 2016 by EPA Regional Administrator Curt Spalding in coordination with the Mystic River Watershed Association, Congressman Capuano, Mayor Curtatone, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. The report announced localized grades for the Mystic River Watershed. The grades are specified for each segment of the watershed, totally fourteen separate stretches of river and tributaries.
The 2015 Mystic River Report Card is available here.
Grants Workshop
In March, the Mystic River Watershed Federal Partnership held an informational event on grants offered by agencies in the Federal Partnership. The event began with a panel of coordinators from four agencies (HUD, USFS, NPS, and FEMA) presenting on programs and grants they offer specifically relating to open space improvements. After brief presentations on each of the programs, the audience asked general questions of the panel as a whole. The general Q&A period was followed by unstructured time for attendees to circulate the room and ask project-specific questions to the panelists in a conversational environment. The event was well recieved by attendees and partners alike.