Outreach Director Carly Rocklen works with Volunteer Elisa to install a stormwater decal.

 What We Do

NepRWA members, staff, Board of Directors, volunteers and supporters work to protect and restore the Neponset River, its tributaries and surrounding watershed lands for the benefit of present and future generations. NepRWA accomplishes this mission through: Environmental monitoring, science, research and planning; Outreach and education to the general public and targeted audiences; Demonstration projects that highlight new and existing best practices; On-the-ground cleanup, restoration and preservation projects; and Advocacy at the local, state and federal level.

Monitor & Maintain Water Quality & Quantity

 

Water quality has improved tremendously along the Neponset River. In fact, the river and its tributaries are at their cleanest in 400 years.  Nevertheless, leaking sewers and contaminated stormwater runoff continue to plague local streams, ponds, lakes and the river, itself. 

 

NepRWA Monitors Water Quality.  NepRWA's Citizen Water Monitoring Network (CWMN) regularly collects water samples from around the watershed to provide data that help identify pollution hotspots and enable communities to cleanup measures (view CWMN in action). NepRWA Environmental Scientist Bill Guenther reviews the data and returns to stream or river segments with high bacteria counts to gather additional data and pinpoint pollution sources. This follow-up activity is "Hot Spot" or "Follow-up" Sampling.

 

NepRWA Cleans & Redirects Stormwater.  NepRWA also works to clean-up street runoff (e.g., "stormwater") by partnering with communities to install water-filtering and groundwater-recharge structures like bioretention cells and tree-filter-boxes and initiate public education efforts.

 

NepRWA Manages Land Use to Best Impact Water Quality.  NepRWA manages the land and waters of Willett Pond in Norwood, Walpole and Westwood in order to ensure better water quality in the Pond itself. NepRWA also is working to remove or modify obsolete dams on the river and local streams to improve water quality and restore passage for fish, other wildlife and people.

 

NepRWA Helps Communities to Conserve Water.  Water quality is connected with water quantity, and NepRWA is working to reduce local communities' water use to ensure sufficient water in local waterways and aquifers in order to maintain high-quality water quality and wildlife habitat even during the heavy water use of summer. Over 200,000 watershed citizens receive drinking water from local wells in the Neponset Valley, but because most homes are sewered, only a small percentage of this water recharges local water supplies.  With the population continuing to grow, water losses are magnified, threatening long-term sustainability. NepRWA has studied how increasing water losses impact local fisheries, wildlife habitat and drinking water supplies.

Advocacy

 

NepRWA uses advocacy to protect the Neponset River and its surrounding watershed lands and waterways. NepRWA comments on development plans and policy to make them more watershed-friendly. NepRWA also attends hearings, other groups' meetings and community meetings to discuss watershed restoration opportunities and environmental issues. Learn more.

Restore Fisheries

 

With the New World's second dam constructed along its banks in 1634, the Neponset River served as an important source of water power for the fledgling factories of the industrial revolution.  Unfortunately, two of New England's most productive shad and herring runs were disrupted by the dams, while a smelt run has survived despite two dams cutting it off from a large portion of its spawning habitat. NepRWA is examining a variety of options for restoring fish habitat in the Neponset, like removing dams that have outlived their utility. Learn about the start of river restoration on the Neponset, or peruse the details of the lower Neponset River Restoration Project.

Salt marsh in the Neponset Estuary also is being restored, which will benefit the fisheries that use the marsh as a feeding ground, nursery, and shelter.

Restore Streams

 

The Neponset River Watershed Association is working to restore the flow, water quality and wildlife habitat of streams through water-sampling and follow-up, volunteer-staffed surveys of small dams and culverts, and in the future, the removal of obsolete dams. 

Restore Wetlands

 

NepRWA also is restoring local wetlands. We are partnering with the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation to reduce exotic, invasive Purple loosestrife in the Fowl Meadow wetlands. 

Land Use & Open Space

 

Quality of life in the Neponset valley depends on a delicate balance between well planned development and accessible open spaces.  As more subdivisions, office parks and roads are built each year, it is important to monitor development to ensure that growth is channeled to appropriate locations, that critical open spaces are preserved and public access maintained, and that water is sustainably used and treated. NepRWA has worked to get key land parcels acquired as conservation land and to improve public access to the river. NepRWA also regularly reviews and comments on development projects to encourage more sustainable water use and groundwater recharge.