Some things that you need to know about the Neponset River Watershed Association

Organization: Neponset River Watershed Association, 2173 Washington St., Canton, Ma.02021

Contacts: Phone: 781-575-0354, E-mail: staff@neponset.org, Executive Director: Christine Grady

History: The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts emptying into Boston Harbor. The headwaters of the river are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near the Gillette Stadium.For more than four decades, two sections of the Neponset River had been placed in an underground pipe ("culverted") for a total length of more than 2,000 feet beneath the parking lots at the old stadium. This had earned it the title of a dead river and recent construction has brought much of it back to life. From there, the river meanders generally northeast for approximately 29 miles to its mouth atDorchesterBay between Quincy and the Dorchester section of Boston, near the painted gas tank. The NeponsetRiver forms the southern boundary of the city of Boston, through the neighborhoods of Readville, Hyde Park, Mattapan and Dorchester, with the northern border of the city of Quincy. The river is fed by a drainage basin or watershed of approximately 130 square miles. The Neponset River watershed includes numerous aquifers, wetlands, streams and surrounding upland areas. Altogether some 250,000 people live within the watershed.

Before early colonization, Native Americans would travel down the river to trade fur skins on Thompson Island with Europeans. Soon afterwards the falling waters of the Neponset provided the energy for the country's first water-powered grist mill, gunpowder mill, paper mill and the Revere Copper Company, among others. The upper stretch of the Neponset River, in Foxborough, Walpole and Norwood, is steeply sloped while dropping about 228 feet over its first 12 miles and so the earliest years of the Industrial Revolution truly brought the Neponset to prominence. In 1635, Israel Stoughton built the first dam on the Neponset (only the second dam in entire New World) for his grist mill. It was the first of three mills for flour, gun powder and paper making. In 1640 shipbuilding began at Gulliver's Creek Wharf, and in 1673 John Trescott built a lumber mill on the river. At the second Milton Landing at Lower Mills ship building and commercial shipping were to become the major river industries at the estuary.

Today the Neponset River and its watershed are increasingly being protected and opened up as a recreational destination for the benefit of local residents. Several recommendations of the 1966 Lower Neponset River Reservation Master Plan have been implemented, including the reclamation of the former Hallet Street landfill and the old Neponset Drive-In to provide the 66-acre Pope John Paul II Park, which opened to the public in 2001. At Squantum Point in Quincy, phase one of Squantum Point Park, 25 acres of a 50-acre former U.S. Navy Airfield, was developed as waterfront parkland with assistance from National Grid plc and dedicated in the spring of 2001. Also 2.4 miles of the Lower Neponset River Trail opened in 2003 with a short Greenway bike path.

Projects: NepRWA, along with the state Riverways Program and many others, has been trying for years to restore the historic migratory fish “runs” on the Neponset River, which for millennia brought ocean fish like shad and herring dozens of miles upstream to lay their eggs. These fish are now blocked from reaching the fresh water portion of the river by two dams in Boston and Milton. A couple of years ago, NepRWA called together a Citizens Advisory Committee on the Lower Neponset (CAC), made up of neighborhood and civic associations as well as environmental groups, condo associations, yacht clubs and the like. Much to our surprise, the CAC reached a unanimous agreement in 2009, which recommended cleanup of the toxic sediments behind the two dams, removal of the more upstream Tileston & Hollingsworth (T&H) Dam in Hyde Park and Milton, and partial removal of the Baker Dam in Lower Mills along with construction of a nature-like fishway suitable for shad and herring. As of this date only a few technical issues remain as roadblocks. If and when dam removal occurs fishing opportunities would be greatly expanded, boating which is currently blocked by the dams would be safer and considerably more enjoyable, and the safety of those recreating along the banks of the river would be enhanced.

Water quality has improved tremendously along the Neponset River. In fact, the river and its tributaries are at their cleanest in 200 years.  Nevertheless, leaking sewers and contaminated stormwater runoff continue to plague local streams, ponds, lakes and the river, itself. 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. 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 trains CWMN Volunteers to monitor water quality around the Neponset River Watershed, in streams, ponds, lakes and the River. CWMN data help NepRWA to pin-point water quality problem areas for follow-up. Volunteers are being sought to participate in six water sampling sessions, from April through October. Each volunteer is assigned a specific sampling site.

River cleanup, August 

Details to be announced!

  Geology tour, October

Details to be announced!

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neponset_River, http://neponset.org/

The Neponset River in Walpole as it winds away from Plimpton Street	The Neponset River at Lower Mills by the former Baker Chocolate factory

Submitted by Conservation Chair Bill Luther