Culvert washout at Walker Brook in Becket

This is a critically important topic at the confluence of public safety, municipal economics, and wildlife habitat protection. Culvert failures as a result of recent severe storms have wreaked havoc in some areas, causing road failures, costing millions of dollars in damage, and disrupting life in affected communities for months.  In addition, undersized, shallow, or perched road stream crossings obstruct the passage of wildlife and force other wildlife out of the streams and onto roads, where they are vulnerable to traffic.  The workshops, featuring the state’s most knowledgeable experts in the field, will give participants practical, up-to-date tools to improve road crossings in their communities to avoid these problems in the future.

Who should attend:  Municipal highway, planning and DPW staff, municipal officials, conservation commissioners, engineering consultants, regional planning staff, state agency staff, foresters, environmental advocates.

Topics covered will include: the value of Road-Smart Stream Crossings, Stream Crossings Standards and Permitting, Engineering Standards and Guidance, Case Studies, and Technical and Funding Resources.

Dates & locations:
March 13 – Westfield State University, Westfield
March 19 – Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield
March 26 – Olver Transportation Center, Greenfield

Cost: $20 for full day (8:20-3:00), lunch included

Credits:  1 Roads Scholar credit, 0.5 CEU credits; AICP credit pending.

To register or for more information, visit BayState Roads website: http://baystateroads.eot.state.ma.us/

The Massachusetts Alliance thanks our diverse group of planning partners and presenting sponsors:

Planning Partners: American Rivers, Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Connecticut River Watershed Council, Housatonic Valley Association, The Nature Conservancy, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Franklin Regional Council of Governments, University of Massachusetts  Amherst, Westfield State University, MA Department o Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration; Mass Department of Transportation; BayState Roads Program; US Fish and Wildlife Serice, Tighe and Bond.

Presenting Sponsors:

Massachusetts Environmental Trust,

and the Westfield River Wild and Scenic Advisory Committee

]]> http://massriversalliance.org/2013/01/22/sign-up-now-for-march-stream-crossing-workshops/feed/ 0 http://massriversalliance.org/2012/09/05/some-rivers-and-their-people/ http://massriversalliance.org/2012/09/05/some-rivers-and-their-people/#comments Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:49:22 +0000 Julia http://massriversalliance.org/?p=1355 Okay, so it’s not a policy update, but I finally got a chance to travel west, past Worcester, this summer, where I visited some rivers and met with some of the people who are looking out for them. Andrea Donlon and her daughter, Ursula, are passionate about the Connecticut River.  Andrea, who is a fierce and effective advocate for the river, works for the Connecticut River Watershed Council. The Connecticut, of course, has the biggest watershed in Massachusetts.  Upstream, it forms the divider between New Hampshire and Vermont.  Here in Massachusetts, it is a mighty river.

Ursula convinced this man to show her the fish he’d caught.  (Yup, not the prettiest view of the river. )

Here is a more dramatic view of the Connecticut, from the French King Bridge, on Route 2.

I also visited HooRWA Executive Director Steve McMahon, who was kind enough to show me around his ‘shed (the Hoosic River).  Part of the Hoosic’s ‘shed is in Vermont, where it flows under this pretty covered bridge en route to the Hudson River in New York (this river flows north and west – it starts in Massachusetts).

In Massachusetts, the river travels through a concrete channel in North Adams, but also flows through a much more natural (and beautiful) section in Williamstown:

Steve and his staff at the Hoosic River Watershed Association and local volunteers are working on improving stream crossings, restoring habitat, and reducing storm water pollution.

I also visited with Shep Evans, who’s on the board at the Housatonic Valley Association. I love kayaking on the Housatonic (very pretty, little bits of whitewater, nothing too hard, and great views around each corner).  Shep and the folks at HVA have been trying for years to get GE to clean up the mess it made in the Housatonic.  Recently, they’ve also been surveying all the stream crossings in the watershed – a major undertaking.

The Housatonic starts in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, and flows south, all the way to Long Island Sound.  I don’t know about the part in Connecticut, but the Massachusetts part is very pretty (as is that part of Massachusetts).

Back home, I took a few photos of the lower Charles, since I bike along it every day on my way home from work.  This river has it all: wildlife habitat,

recreation,

and it serves as a scenic backdrop for those who wish to contemplate a bit of nature amidst the bustle of Boston,

or listen to some tunes at the Hatch Shell.

The Charles is much cleaner these days, thanks to many years of science-based advocacy by the Charles River Watershed Association.  The Charles River Conservancy improves lands and trails along the river.  Next time I get a chance, I’ll catch some of the Charles’ river stewards on camera and post their photos here.

Here is a May update from Kathy Baskin, EOEEA’s Director of Water Policy:

EEA and its agencies are grateful for the comments received from many of our stakeholders on the MA Sustainable Water Management Initiative.  We are reviewing those comments now and expect that they will inform the development of the final SWMI Framework and the accompanying Water Management Act regulations.

In the meantime, the Pilot Project is underway.  Four water suppliers have been selected as pilots:  Amherst, Danvers-Middleton, Dedham-Westwood, and Shrewsbury.  These systems represent a range of conditions, including:  varying impacts to flow levels/biological categories, both groundwater and surface water supplies, single and multi-basin systems, a system augmented with water from the MWRA, and municipal versus district systems.  The team of Comprehensive Environmental, Inc. and Tighe & Bond was selected to be the project’s contractor.  DFG’s Division of Ecological Restoration, with DEP funding assistance, is supporting river restoration and monitoring in Pilot Communities.  Projects include the removal of the Curtis Pond Dam in the Ipswich River Basin, monitoring to support restoration actions in Pelham and Amherst, and the development of feasibility studies for multiple dam and culvert removals in the Pilot Communities and their watersheds.

DEP and DCR have also been working with a contractor to improve data management abilities to better assist with the permitting process.  The Access databases that DEP uses during the regulatory process are being improved.  DEP is also streamlining its ability to provide information from annual statistical reports to DCR for use in developing water need forecasts.

We expect to prepare and disseminate a final framework this summer.  The final framework will guide us as we prepare draft regulations, which we hope to do by the end of the year.  These regulations will take into account information derived from the Pilot Projects, and will be subject to full public review and comment.

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has posted all the comment letters it has received on the draft SWMI framework.  You can click on this link to read the framework and the letters.  The environmental community did a terrific job of analyzing this proposal and responding thoughtfully and comprehensively to it; let’s hope our comments will be reflected in the draft regulations.

What’s next?  The DEP has hired Tighe and Bond (an engineering firm) to conduct four pilot tests of the proposed SWMI policies in the following communities:   Amherst (Connecticut watershed), Danvers/Middleborough (Ipswich watershed), Dedham/Westwood (Neponset watershed), Shrewsbury (Blackstone, wastewater discharges to Assabet). The agency hopes to complete some of the work on the pilots by the end of FY12, and finish the work by the end of the calendar year.   DEP also plans to simultaneously draft regulations for the new permitting process under the Water Management Act, which should be out for review by the end of this year.

The Mass Water Works Association’s and Mass Municipal Association’s take on SWMI is very different from that of the environmental community (their comments are posted on the website as well).  Relying on a consultant’s report (authored by Charlie Cooper, of TRC), MWWA has been questioning the peer-reviewed USGS study Factors Influencing Massachusetts Riverine Fish Assemblages on which the streamflow criteria are based.  The DEP has responded by asking outside experts to review the TRC report.

We hope the state’s environmental agencies will stand by the very solid science that shows, in effect, that the more water is removed from a stream, the worse it is for the fish, and continue to work with all stakeholders for more sustainable water management in Massachusetts.

A nearly identical version of the bill was introduced in 2009. Go to SWRA (H.B. 834) for more information.

The Announcement and Application Form are posted on EPA Region 1′s website at:

http://www.epa.gov/region1/lab/pdfs/2011VolunteerMonitoringEquipmentLoan.pdf

For more information, contact: