July 5, 2005

New Funding in ’06 Budget To Assist Parks Agency In Stormwater Pollution Improvements and Will Address Agency’s Violations of the Clean Water Act

Boston, Ma.... Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney approved most increases in spending on environmental programs last week, including $500,000 earmarked for the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) beleaguered stormwater management program. The move, applauded by the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), a leading regional environmental organization, recognizes the importance of stormwater management to the health of the state’s water bodies. 

“CRWA worked closely with legislators to assure the passage of this important funding because contaminated stormwater is the most significant source of pollution in the Charles River,” said Robert Zimmerman, executive director of CRWA. “The funds will help the agency, which manages over 675,000 acres of land in Massachusetts, to comply with the Clean Water Act, which it has been violating through poor stormwater management practices because of a lack of sufficient funds.”

Kate Bowditch, senior project manager at CRWA, agrees.  “With this funding, everyone wins,” she said.  “Massachusetts can bring its parks agency into compliance with federal laws, and the Commonwealth’s citizens can enjoy cleaner, safer water bodies.”

State Representative Anne Paulsen, (D-Belmont), filed the amendment language that was ultimately adopted into the budget.  State Senator Pamela Resor, (D- Middlesex/Worcester) filed an identical amendment in the Senate, but it was rejected.  The joint Conference Committee ultimately reinstated it to the budget, where Romney declined to veto it.

All towns in the Charles River watershed are required to file stormwater discharge permits with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); earlier this year, nine towns in the lower watershed underwent the same permit renewal process as DCR and were found to be in compliance.  Yet, according to Bowditch, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which is charged with protecting the largest portion of the river, as well as many open spaces and water bodies around the state, has been “failing at all aspects of stormwater management”.  Chronic underfunding by the state is mainly to blame, she added.

DCR manages many of the parks and roadways in the Charles River Watershed, including the 17-mile long Charles River Reservation.  DCR’s land, including parking lots, roads, parkways and boulevards, contribute to the large quantities of polluted stormwater that run off into the state’s rivers and harbors.  According to CRWA experts, this stormwater is a major cause of water quality degradation — affecting fisheries, habitat, aquatic plants, and recreational uses.

“This funding marks the beginning of a solution to the problem.  The money will allow DCR to design and implement stormwater management plans that comply with the law and effectively address pollution reduction and sustainable water use,” said Bowditch.  “Polluted stormwater discharges throughout the watershed are the last great challenges to a truly healthy river.”

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Charles River Watershed Association’s uses science, advocacy and the law to protect, preserve and enhance the Charles River and its watershed. One of our country’s first watershed organizations, CRWA formed in 1965 in response to public concern about the declining condition of the Charles River.  Since its earliest days of advocacy, CRWA has figured prominently in major clean-up and watershed protection efforts that have dramatically improved the health of the Charles.