The 76-square-mile Mystic River Watershed in Massachusetts stretches from Reading through the northern shoreline of Boston Harbor to Revere. An Anglicized version of the Pequot word missi-tuk (“large river with wind- and tide-driven waves”), it is now one of New England’s most-densely populated urban watersheds.
The seven-mile Mystic River and its tributaries represented an early economic engine for colonial Boston. Ten shipyards built more than 500 clipper ships in the 1800s before roads and railways replaced schooners and steamships. Tide-driven mills, brickyards and tanneries along both banks of the river brought both wealth and pollution.
In the 1960s, the Amelia Earhart Dam—like all dams—damaged the ecology of the river by turning it into a freshwater impoundment. Then the badly-planned and poorly-engineered construction of Interstate 93 filled in wetlands and dramatically changed the river’s course.
But the restoration economy has been at work in the area in the past two decades, and the watershed is recovering. Many former industrial sites have been cleaned up and redeveloped into new commercial areas and residential communities.
On the other hand, the Mystic is facing growing climate-related challenges: coastal and stormwater flooding, extreme storms, heat, drought and unpredictable seasonal weather.
Its 21 municipalities are home to a half-million residents, including many who are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme weather such as environmental justice communities and communities of color, low-income residents and employees, people living with health challenges, and English-language learners.
2019 was a good year for the river, as restoration funding continued to arrive from a variety of sources.
For instance, back in June of 2019, the Mystic River Watershed Association announced that the Resilient Mystic Collaborative had secured federal, state and philanthropic grants exceeding $1.1 million to help Mystic Watershed communities collectively prepare for extreme weather.
“Our local communities recognized that planning for climate change needs to happen now, and that we are stronger together,” said Patrick Herron, Executive Director of the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA).
“We are grateful to the Barr Foundation, the Mass Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the US EPA for investing in our collective efforts to prepare our people and places for more flooding, heat and storms,” he added.
Convened by MyRWA, the Resilient Mystic Collaborative (RMC) focuses on:
- Managing stormwater flooding and water quality on a watershed level;
- Storm-hardening critical energy, transportation, food and wastewater infrastructure in the Lower Mystic, including Logan Airport; MBTA Blue, Orange and Commuter Rail lines; Deer Island wastewater facility; the Amelia Earhart Dam, and the New England Produce Center; and
- Increasing the resilience of vulnerable residents during and after extreme weather events.
The RMC includes 14 of 21 communities (Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lexington, Malden, Medford, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester, Winthrop, and Woburn) and over 75 percent of the population and land base in the Mystic River Watershed. It includes non-profit and private sector partners as content experts, with municipal planners and engineers serving as the group’s voting members. All Mystic Watershed municipalities are welcome to participate.
“On behalf of Chelsea, we’re thrilled to be a partner in the Resilient Mystic Collaborative,” said City Manager Tom Ambrosino. “This critical investment will build social resiliency and help prepare the region for the reality of climate change.”
“Cambridge is pleased to have received this regional MVP grant on behalf of multiple Mystic Watershed communities,” said Katherine Watkins, Assistant Commissioner for Engineering. “The Collaborative’s commitment to working across municipal boundaries and focusing on regional solutions is so inspiring and we are grateful that the modelling work we have done on flooding in the Mystic River can be utilized for the entire watershed and not just in Cambridge.”
On June 18th, the Barr Foundation awarded MyRWA $700,000 over two years to provide professional staffing for the RMC, including a dedicated project manager focused on increasing the resiliency of Mystic Watershed residents. The new staff person will join co-facilitators Julie Wormser from MyRWA and Carri Hulet from CBI.
“We are pleased to be able to offer support to the Resilient Mystic Collaborative,” said Kalila Barnett, Climate Resilience Program Officer for the Barr Foundation. “Taking a watershed approach to addressing climate vulnerabilities presents an important opportunity to deepen the municipal partnerships that will be vital in the years ahead. Making our region more resilient requires a focus on people as well as infrastructure. RMC is putting together all of the right people and creating a model for the rest of the state.”
“Somerville Climate Forward, our community’s climate action plan, makes clear that Somerville can’t go it alone when it comes to preparing for the effects of a changing climate,” said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. “That’s why we are so committed to working with neighboring municipalities and partners in the Resilient Mystic Collaborative. Building resilience is not just about infrastructure—it’s also about strengthening our communities’ ability to take care of the most vulnerable among us.”
“GreenRoots is very excited to be involved in the Resilient Mystic Collaborative,” said Executive Director Roseann Bongiovanni. “It is so important that community has representation in these types of spaces in order to balance out the interests and priorities of watershed-level projects between the decision-makers and the people directly affected by those decisions.”
On June 20th, Governor Charlie Baker announced that the City of Cambridge, on behalf of the RMC’s Upper Mystic Stormwater working group, was awarded a $350,000 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant to prioritize opportunities for regional stormwater retention, leading with green infrastructure solutions.
“I am excited that Medford is participating in such a groundbreaking partnership to make our watershed and our city more climate resilient,” said Mayor Stephanie Burke.
An associated $75,000 grant from the U.S. EPA will help communities incorporate the results of this work into their local Hazard Mitigation Plans.
All photos are courtesy of the Mystic River Watershed Association unless otherwise attributed.