River Restore

Neponset River Restoration, Milton and Boston

Neponset River Study and Outreach Chronology

1994

Visual inspection of the Walter Baker Dam by Department of Environmental Management Office of Dam Safety

Division of Marine Fisheries recommends a survey of substrate and flows in the Neponset River relative to anadromous fish

Riverways Adopt-A-Stream Program and Neponset River Watershed Association form and support seven seven subwatershed Stream Teams, located within the Hawes Brook, Traphole Brook, East Branch, Mother Brook, Pine Tree Brook subwatersheds and Neponset River mainstem (Mattapan/Milton and Estuary). Following the completion of shoreline surveys of their local streams, they developed action plans to reach short and long-term resource protection goals, including fisheries restoration. Many of these groups continue to be active in watershed issues and activities.

1995

Division of Marine Fisheries determines that the “ Neponset River be given a high priority for blueback herring restoration and American Shad development…”

The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs expresses support for fishway design and flow gauges at the Walter Baker Dam

Riverways collaborates with the Division of Marine Fisheries and Neponset River Watershed Association to organize and train volunteer “Smelt Stewards” to take staff gauge readings at the Walter Baker Dam.

1996

Division of Marine Fisheries publishes “A Survey of the Neponset River to Determine Its Potential for Anadromous Fish Development” and “Massachusetts Bay Smelt Spawning Habitat Monitoring Program: Preliminary Report on the Neponset River.”

Division of Marine Fisheries stocks 10,000 blueback herring and several hundred American Shad in the Neponset River

Dick Quinn of USFWS drafts preliminary fishway plans for Baker Dam.

1997

“Fish Ladder Kickoff” meeting with stakeholders, hosted by Neponset River Watershed Association

“Ad-Hoc Group” forms to discuss fishways and fish passage in the Neponset River , attended by Riverways, Division of Marine Fisheries, Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Boston Conservation Commission, Milton Conservation Commission, Neponset River Watershed Association, Friends of the Neponset Estuary, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

1998

Neponset River Watershed Association drafts a “Fish Passage Study Brief” with background on the mills, fisheries, and alternatives for fish passage.

Then-Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Trudy Coxe formally requests that the Army Corps study fish passage alternatives for the Neponset River pursuant to their authority under s. 206 of the Water Resources Development Act and identifies the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Environmental Law Enforcement (now Department of Fish and Game) as the non-federal sponsor.

“Ad-Hoc Group” evolves into the “Neponset Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration Task Force.” to provide input to the Army Corps. At the request of the Division of Marine Fisheries, Karen Pelto of Riverways agrees to serve as liaison among agency and community stakeholders for the project.

1999

Army Corps determines that the Neponset project is “sufficiently beneficial to proceed to full feasibility study” and completes a “Preliminary Restoration Plan” for review and approval by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs

Department of Fish and Game sends comments to the Army Corps on the “Preliminary Restoration Plan” incorporating input from community stakeholders and “Neponset River Habitat Restoration Task Force” members.

Then-Commissioner David Balfour of the Metropolitan District Commission (now Department of Conservation and Recreation) sends letter of support for the Army Corps study to Commissioner David Peters of the Department of Fish and Game

Commissioner David Peters of the Department of Fish and Game concurs with the Army Corps “Preliminary Restoration Plan” and requests that they initiate the ecological restoration study.

Riverways organizes a community stakeholder outreach meeting with Army Corps to report on the “Preliminary Restoration Plan” and seek input on the scope of the ecological restoration study.

2001

Riverways organizes stakeholder outreach meetings with the Army Corps and The Bioengineering Group to present preliminary data and modeling results from the ecological restoration study.

2002

Then-Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Bob Durand requests a short- and long-term strategy for achieving full ecological restoration of the Neponset River and expresses his support for continued study of dam removal and remediation of contaminated sediments. Karen Pelto and Joan Kimball of Riverways prepare a draft strategy.

Riverways meets with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Bob Varney and garners his support for the EPA laboratory to analyze sediment samples in the Neponset River as an in-kind contribution to the restoration effort.

Army Corps releases for review and comment by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs a Preliminary Draft of their “Environmental Restoration Report and Environmental Assessment for the Neponset River Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration Project, including the Tilestone-Hollingsworth Dam and the Walter Baker Dam,” prepared with technical support by The Bioengineering Group, Inc.

Department of Fish and Game enters into a Joint Funding Agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey to further characterize sediment volume and quality in the Neponset River , particularly polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency laboratory provides in-kind laboratory analysis services for most samples.

Comments by Executive Office of Environmental Affairs agencies on the s. 206 Preliminary Draft Report are forwarded to the Army Corps of Engineers and then-Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Bob Durand sends a letter to the Army Corps indicating that EOEA looks forward to continued participation by the Corps in the study.

Michael Merrill of Riverways serves as liaison to the Corps on the Neponset River Study from 2002-2003, attends numerous community stakeholder meetings and site visits and coordinates technical activities, including the U.S. Geological Survey assessment.

In response to stakeholder comments at previous outreach meetings about aesthetic and historic issues, a “Request for Responses” for creating “Conceptual Renderings of Fish Passage and Ecological Restoration Alternatives on the Neponset River ” is posted.

2003

Riverways led and hosted a “conceptual rendering” process to share technical aspects of fish passage and ecological restoration with community stakeholders and elicit their feedback on uses and plans for the river. The finished renderings, created by Milone and MacBroom, Inc., included photo simulations, which have the advantage of looking “realistic,” and hand-drawn illustrations, which allow the landscape architect to add features and show perspectives without being restricted to snapshots. The process identified an additional fish passage alternative, a partial breach and rock-ramp combination that had not been previously evaluated by the Corps s. 206 study.

Neponset River Watershed Association receives a Riverways Small Grant to lead a series of information and education activities with community groups. Themes explored included the ecology of the Neponset, how human actions have modified the river, as well as fisheries and the current restoration effort.

2004

Riverways receives funding from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust to implement the “Neponset River Environmental Literacy Project.”

Neponset River Watershed Association, with funding from Riverways, conducts public outreach activities with established community and civic groups as well as interviews with key individual stakeholders.

Riverways sponsors a technical session and workshop at the 2004 20th Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, and Water at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst that engaged a select group of national academic and private leaders in an interactive exploration of available and emerging technologies and techniques for managing and remediating contaminated sediment.

The U.S. Geological Survey publishes “Sediment Quality and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Lower Neponset River, Massachusetts, and Implications for Urban River Restoration,” by Robert F. Breault, Matthew G. Cooke, and Michael Merrill , Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5109.

2005

Riverways collaborates with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to complete a literature review and conduct social science data collection to inform the development of techniques for communicating environmental contaminants in the context of ecological restoration and build local capacity for community members to serve as presenters to share ecological restoration and environmental cleanup information and data with the community-at-large.

As part of the Environmental Literacy Project, Riverways convenes a “Science Translation Team,” a select group of scientific researchers and practitioners, to provide advice on the content and format of technical data related to the Neponset River ecological restoration and environmental cleanup.

Under a Joint Funding Agreement with Riverways, the U.S. Geological Survey conducts field work to measure PCB-congener patterns in water and fish-tissue samples and compare these patterns with those already determined for bed sediment to determine health risks to human and aquatic life, and begin to elucidate sources and transport pathways so that effective management strategies can be developed. Additionally, their field work will define the monthly, seasonal, and annual load of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Neponset River to Boston Harbor and determine the fate of PCBs in the Neponset River Estuary’s water, sediment, and fish.

Riverways selects The Johnson Company, Inc. to research, verify, and outline a strategy for implementing selected traditional and innovative technologies and approaches to achieve ecological restoration and contaminant remediation, including potential pilot projects for further evaluation in the lower Neponset River .

Riverways selects Creative Resolutions, LLC to develop a strategy of regulatory and non-regulatory options as the Neponset River restoration and remediation project moves forward from data collection and study to regulatory review and from outreach to public involvement.

NOTE: Riverways has, throughout the years, periodically attended meetings of local stakeholder groups in the Neponset such as the Boston Natural Areas Network Greenway Council. Riverways staff has also been featured as speakers on Neponset River Festival Boat Tours, at watershed and civic group meetings and walking tours, and provided displays at river and greenway festivals.