Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee Meeting Notes - December 3, 2020
Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee
Meeting Focus: Highlights from 2020; Looking Forward to 2021
December 3, 2020
Held online via Zoom
Meeting Summary
Meeting in Brief
Presenters and other meeting attendees shared accomplishments from this past year, and updates
about new initiatives for 2021, with a particular focus on new restoration projects that are planned in
the watershed. Presentation slides from the meeting are available at https://mysticriver.org/epa-
steering-committee and https://www.epa.gov/mvsticriver/mystic-river-watershed-
initiative#MeetingsEvents. A list of meeting participants can be found at the end of this document. For
more information about the steering committee and current efforts to restore the Mystic River
watershed, please visit www.epa.gov/mvsticriver.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 4 at 10am on Zoom.
Welcome and Introductions
Patrick Herron, Mystic River Watershed Association and Mel Cote, EPA Region 1, expressed their thanks
to everyone for attending the meeting, and for their ongoing work in the watershed.
Celebration of 2020 accomplishments
Meeting attendees shared a variety of accomplishments:
•	Maiden River Works had four public meetings this year and has completed the concept design
for the project and is moving into the engineering phase.
•	Friends of the Maiden River held several small cleanups and removed thousands of water
bottles and many pounds of Styrofoam.
•	Resilient Mystic Collaborative organized a storm simulation with infrastructure managers and
others that was very successful in starting regional conversations about climate change
preparedness. They will also be looking at social vulnerability issues.
•	The towns of Lexington, Arlington, and other upper Mystic communities are working with
MyRWA to identify sites for wetland restoration and flood storage. They are currently surveying
three sites and have an RFP out to do work on these sites in the next six months.
•	Friends of Alewife Reservation became part of Green Cambridge, a relationship that positions
them strategically to move their priorities forward in a holistic way.
Newton Tedder, EPA Region 1, reviewed the Mystic phosphorus reduction-related work that was
accomplished this year. The alternative TMDL was completed and released in January, and there was a
very intentional effort to engage communities to begin implementation early in the process. With an
Urban Waters grant and additional funding from MassDEP, EPA was able to work directly with two
Mystic municipalities at first, and then four more in 2019-20. Recently, EPA hosted a series of three
workshops on themes that came out of this implementation work on the topics of structural solutions,
nonstructural controls, and funding. EPA is committed to continuing to provide support for improving
stormwater management strategies to tackle nutrient issues in the Mystic moving forward. Mystic
communities are regional leaders on this kind of work.
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Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee Meeting Notes - December 3, 2020
State Representative Paul Donato was in attendance, and expressed his admiration for the work
happening in the Mystic and noted that he is advocating to fund DCR to do invasive species removal in
the 2022 budget. He also encouraged participants to contact his office if there are additional funding
needs.
What's coming in 2021?
Patrick Herron introduced the Mystic Street Trench project, which will expand installation of infiltration
trenches designed by Wayne Chouinard in Arlington throughout the watershed. The trenches allow
water entering catch basins to infiltrate before entering the storm drain system. They cost between
$2500-$5000 each and remove about 1 pound of phosphorus per year each, making them very cost
effective. Jamie Houle of the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center has developed a
calculator to calculate the benefits of these installations. In 2019-2020, Arlington installed 34 infiltration
trenches. By next year, another 20+ will be installed in Arlington and Lexington. In 2022, MyRWA hopes
to install another 20 in Arlington, Lexington, and Winchester, and MyRWA now has funding to site
additional trenches across the watershed in the future. This project has been funded by the Office of
Coastal Zone Management as well as the 319 and 604b programs.
Q: What are the O&M needs for the trenches?
A: Catch basins need to be cleaned out anyway, so the trenches do not require much additional
maintenance. They do have ports that allow for observation of whether infiltration is still happening, so
this requires some additional monitoring.
Q: To what extent are municipalities trying to prevent runoff from getting to the streets/catch basins in
the first place (ie through rain barrels, etc)?
A: In Arlington, the stormwater bylaw requires that any project that increases impervious area must
include infiltration. They have developed some additional trench structures (in grass strips and tree
boxes) that can be suggested to developers.
Q: Would DEP allow these trenches to be installed in critical areas? This is an improvement to no pre-
treatment, but does not provide the standard that DEP requires in these areas.
A: No one from DEP was present at this point, so speculating that improving existing conditions is a good
idea, but Arlington has only installed these in streets, not critical areas.
Ona Ferguson from the Consensus Building Institute spoke about the Trash Free Mystic project, which
will bring focus to the need to reduce trash in the river. In the late summer/early fall, the CBI team
interviewed representatives from eight Mystic municipalities about this issue. In most cases, trash in the
river is not a high-priority issue, and municipalities are not directly linking trash on land to trash in the
water. People interviewed were interested in the idea of working across municipal boundaries on this
issue and would like to learn more about strategies for preventing trash from entering waterbodies and
removing it once it's there. The next phase will be a three-meeting series for Mystic municipalities and
other local groups focused on nonstructural solutions (January), structural strategies (February) and
developing a region-wide trash reduction initiative that will be supported by EPA and MyRWA (March).
Please refer anyone interested in this work to the planning team (CBI, EPA, MyRWA, Urban Waters
ambassador).
Patrick Herron (MyRWA) and Roseann Bongiovanni (GreenRoots) introduced two new funding sources
that have come to the Mystic. 2006, there was an oil spill by Exxon-Mobil that affected the Mystic River
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Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee Meeting Notes - December 3, 2020
and Island End River. After several years, a plea agreement resulted in $5.6 million going toward
community projects through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), which provides
funding for restoration projects, but mostly for duck habitat. After a presentation at a Mystic steering
committee years ago about NAWCA, GreenRoots, MyRWA, Conservation Law Foundation, and others
decided to advocate for bringing some of this funding to the Mystic, knowing that typically all of this
funding would go to pristine duck habitat elsewhere. Ultimately, the Mystic-area partners were able to
bring $1.3 million of this funding to the Mystic, after Patrick and Roseann went to DC two years in a row
to advocate for this. This is a really difficult process, requiring many hours of preparation of the
application and a huge amount of matching funds ($2.6 million for the $1.6 million of funding).
Ultimately, the grant funds 8 projects, 6 of which are in the Mystic:
1.	Restoration and access at Mill Creek, a marsh between Chelsea and Revere that is close to
where the oil spill damage occurred. The City of Chelsea is a key partner on this restoration
project.
2.	A living shoreline at Draw Seven Park in Somerville, as well as other park renovations that will
provide flood protection.
3.	Updated trash booms in the Maiden River to be deployed this spring.
4.	Fish passage for river herring at Scally Dam in Woburn (also leverages funds from the National
Resources Damages fund)
5.	Restoration, water quality treatment, and community education at Shaker Glen, the site of a
former bowling alley.
6.	One additional project, in partnership with DCR, is in the process of identifying a new site.
After experiencing the challenges of bringing these funds back to the Mystic, the partners have
established a fund for Mystic restoration at The Boston Foundation, and will advocate that any future
funds be directed there or to the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, to allow for funding to be
invested back into the watershed.
Elisabeth Ciancola from the MA Department of Fish and Game noted that the In Lieu Fee Program has
taken in funding for mitigation in the Mystic watershed, but none of those funds has gone out to
projects yet, so she is here to learn more about projects that might be a good match for this funding.
Catherine Pedemonti (MyRWA) shared information about another restoration project being planned for
Belle Isle Marsh, the largest remaining salt marsh in the Mystic River watershed and a designated Area
of Environmental Concern by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is bordered by
Winthrop, Boston, and Revere. Over the years, changes to the hydrology have led to erosion and marsh
collapse, and there is ongoing development along the borders of the marsh, leading to stormwater
runoff into the marsh and limiting the ability of the marsh to migrate (for example, in response to sea
level rise). Invasives are also an issue, as are climate change impacts such as intense storms and sea level
rise. However, it is an incredible habitat, with 250 bird species identified there. Belle Isle has been
under-resourced for many years. About a year ago, DCR, MyRWA, and Friends of Belle Isle Marsh
decided to work with Woods Hole Group to do an environmental inventory (happening now), followed
by hydrodynamic modeling leading to a list of prioritized restoration projects and recommendations.
Recently, MyRWA, The Nature Conservancy, and the MBTA applied for a NOAA grant that will look at
rising sea levels and public transit at Belle Isle, which will include an emphasis on improved regional
collaboration between Climate Ready East Boston, Suffolk Downs redevelopment by HYM, the Woods
Hole Group study, and other initiatives.
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Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee Meeting Notes - December 3, 2020
Jay Corey, City of Woburn, provided more detail on the two Woburn-based projects Patrick Herron
mentioned earlier, at Horn Pond Brook and Cummings Brook. Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness-
funded projects will include a rain garden, tree planting, and Horn Pond brook improvements, including
fish passage and improving the channel for better flood protection. The City must work with land
owners - the City does not have easements on these properties, which can be a challenge and may
impact the scope of the project. They also plan to work on a fish passageway above the dam. The Shaker
Glen property is currently owned by a private individual, but the City is negotiating to purchase the
property so that restoration work can begin, including removal of existing pavement and foundations on
the site. The project would provide both environmental and recreation benefits, including water quality
improvement at Horn Pond.
Announcements, Updates, and Funding Opportunities
Ellen Mass shared information about a $25,000 settlement that Friends of Alewife Reservation has
received for habitat restoration work on the Little River. An assessment has been done by Horsley
Witten Group, and a youth camp participated in the survey work over the course of several years. Ellen
is seeking a nonprofit or other entity that could use these funds for restoration work on the river. She
has shared information about the project plan with several steering committee participants and
encourages anyone interested to follow up.
Alana Spaetzel from USGS shared information about updates they've been making to StreamStats, a
resource for delineating watersheds, getting stream statistics, etc. They are updating the Mystic
watershed with stormwater data provided by municipalities in order to more accurately represent how
water flows in areas with stormwater systems.
Darya Mattes (Urban Waters ambassador) shared that the biennial science forum, which would typically
be scheduled for spring of 2021, will be postponed to either fall 2021 or spring of 2022.
Patrick Herron shared that a harbor seal has been sighted in Lower Mystic Lake!
Steering Committee topics for 2021
The meeting broke into smaller breakout groups to brainstorm and discuss steering committee topic
ideas for next year. Each group took notes on a shared Google Doc. These ideas, along with others that
have been compiled by the coordinating team, will be combined in a survey that will be sent to
everyone on the steering committee email list. Watch for that and vote on the ideas that would be of
greatest interest to you!
Wrap Up and Next Steps
2021 Mystic Steering Committee meeting dates:
•	March 4
•	June 3
•	September 9
•	December 2
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Mystic River Watershed Steering Committee Meeting Notes - December 3, 2020
Meeting Attendees
Name
Affiliation
Jeff Barbaro
USGS
Roseann Bongiovanni
Green Roots
Todd Borci
EPA Region 1
Karen Buck
Friends of the Maiden River
Larry Childs
Green Cambridge
Wayne Chouinard
Town of Arlington
Elisabeth Ciancola
MA Department of Fish and Game
Eileen Coleman
Town of Burlington
Jay Corey
City of Woburn
Mel Cote
EPA Region 1
Rep. Paul Donato
MA State Representative (Medford, Maiden)
Ona Ferguson
Consensus Building Institute
Justin Gould
Weston and Sampson
Patrick Herron
Mystic River Watershed Association
Lucica Hiller
City of Somerville
Alicia Hunt
City of Medford
John Keeley
Town of Burlington
Colin Kelly
Schnitzel Steel
Jennifer Letourneau
City of Cambridge
Denis MacDougall
City of Medford
Use Marx
MWRA
Ellen Mass
Friends of Alewife Reservation
Darya Mattes
Urban Waters ambassador, Groundwork Somerville
Theresa McGovern
VHB
Hillary Monahan
MWRA
Leo Olsen
Empower East Boston
Chris Orvin
EPA Headquarters
Catherine Pedemonti
Mystic River Watershed Association
Stephen Perkins
MyRWA volunteer
Tony Rodolakis
Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions
Alex Rozycki
Town of Reading
Rep. Dan Ryan
MA State Representative (Boston, Chelsea)
Beth Rudolph
Town of Winchester
Laura Schifman
MassDEP
Matthew Schuman
City of Watertown
Alana Spaetzel
USGS
Michael Sprague
Town of Lexington
Emily Sullivan
Town of Arlington
Newton Tedder
EPA Region 1
Kathy Vandiver
MIT Center for Environmental Health Science
Elaine Vreeland
Town of Winchester
John Walkey
Green Roots
Catherine Woodbury
City of Cambridge
For questions regarding this meeting summary, please contact Darya Mattes
(darva(5)aroundworksomerville.ora).
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