Causes: Environment, Pollution Abatement & Control, Water, Water Resources, Wetlands Conservation & Management
Mission: Charles River Watershed Association’s mission is to protect, restore and enhance the Charles River and its watershed through science, advocacy, and the law. CRWA develops science-based strategies to increase resilience, protect public health, and promote environmental equity as we confront a changing climate.
Results: In 1965, a group of concerned citizens formed Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) in response to public concern about the declining condition of the Charles River. CRWA is one of the country’s oldest watershed organizations and has figured prominently in major cleanup and protection efforts. Since our earliest days of advocacy, we have worked with government officials and citizen groups from 35 Massachusetts watershed towns from Hopkinton to Boston. Today, the Charles is once again a living river—and a living river in the heart of a city is a glorious thing, connecting people to nature and enriching lives. Over fifty years of progress by CRWA has transformed the “Dirty Water” of the past to a “Clean Charles. ” We celebrate that hard-won victory. The Charles we all cherish depends on relentless loving vigilance—and that is our full time job. We are proud to have delivered “the cleanest urban river in America. ” But, for a river intertwined with 80 miles of bustling cities and towns, “clean” is not an endpoint, it’s a verb—and it’s still our unwavering mission. We humbly recognize the Massachuset, Wampanoag, and Nipmuc Nations, as our work is carried out across their traditional territory, and we acknowledge them as the past, present and future caretakers of this land.
Geographic areas served: Bostob, MA, New England
Programs: Since hiring its first staff scientist in 1994 and conducting the first volunteer water quality sampling event in 1995, the Charles River WatershedAssociation (CRWA) has been committed to using data and science to find solutions to the river's problems. One of the most critical components of CRWA's work is water quality monitoring. The anchor of this effort is the Charles River Volunteer Monthly Monitoring Program, a program involving a network of over 70 trained volunteer water quality monitors who collect samples once per month at 35 locations along the river. The efforts of this volunteer program over the past 14 years have resulted in one of the most comprehensive water quality datasets of any river in the nation.
Mission: Charles River Watershed Association’s mission is to protect, restore and enhance the Charles River and its watershed through science, advocacy, and the law. CRWA develops science-based strategies to increase resilience, protect public health, and promote environmental equity as we confront a changing climate.
Results: In 1965, a group of concerned citizens formed Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) in response to public concern about the declining condition of the Charles River. CRWA is one of the country’s oldest watershed organizations and has figured prominently in major cleanup and protection efforts. Since our earliest days of advocacy, we have worked with government officials and citizen groups from 35 Massachusetts watershed towns from Hopkinton to Boston. Today, the Charles is once again a living river—and a living river in the heart of a city is a glorious thing, connecting people to nature and enriching lives. Over fifty years of progress by CRWA has transformed the “Dirty Water” of the past to a “Clean Charles. ” We celebrate that hard-won victory. The Charles we all cherish depends on relentless loving vigilance—and that is our full time job. We are proud to have delivered “the cleanest urban river in America. ” But, for a river intertwined with 80 miles of bustling cities and towns, “clean” is not an endpoint, it’s a verb—and it’s still our unwavering mission. We humbly recognize the Massachuset, Wampanoag, and Nipmuc Nations, as our work is carried out across their traditional territory, and we acknowledge them as the past, present and future caretakers of this land.
Geographic areas served: Bostob, MA, New England
Programs: Since hiring its first staff scientist in 1994 and conducting the first volunteer water quality sampling event in 1995, the Charles River WatershedAssociation (CRWA) has been committed to using data and science to find solutions to the river's problems. One of the most critical components of CRWA's work is water quality monitoring. The anchor of this effort is the Charles River Volunteer Monthly Monitoring Program, a program involving a network of over 70 trained volunteer water quality monitors who collect samples once per month at 35 locations along the river. The efforts of this volunteer program over the past 14 years have resulted in one of the most comprehensive water quality datasets of any river in the nation.
41 West Street Suite 800, Boston, MA 02111
617-540-5650
Environment
Boston
