Nashua River Watershed-wide Nature-based Solutions Project

Community specific information:  Fitchburg     Leominster     Ashburnham     Groton     Pepperell

Under an MVP Action Grant, the NRWA is working with the communities of Ashburnham, Fitchburg, Groton, Leominster, and Pepperell to understand local climate change issues and ways that we can use Nature-based Solutions (sometimes called green infrastructure) to address those issues. Read NRWA Climate Change and the Nashua River Watershed produced by the NRWA’s Climate Impact Committee.

The communities involved in this project have identified flooding, drought, and extreme temperatures to be key issues that are negatively affecting human health and safety, drinking water supplies, and ecological resources.  Nature-based Solutions can help to mitigate these impacts. 

What are Nature-based Solutions? 

Nature has evolved in ways that buffer storms and adapt to change. Many of the most effective strategies to address the impacts of climate change are based on those natural systems. Many of the impacts we are facing are exacerbated by the ways we have changed the natural landscape and reduced the effectiveness of nature's tools. Impermeable surfaces, loss and disconnection of wetlands and floodplains, fragmentation of the landscape, barriers to the movement of wildlife, loss of forests and meadows, and many more human changes exacerbate the impacts of a warming climate. By actions such as increasing infiltration, slowing the flow of stormwater, reconnecting the landscape, conserving and managing our forests and meadows, and re-creating a more resilient environment, we can not only buffer impacts but also create an environment better adapted to the future. More about Nature-based Solutions.

Community-driven Process: Gathering Community Concerns and Ideas

Kick-off Community Leadership Meetings

NRWA together with project partner BSC Group kicked off the project by holding a meeting with key leadership in each project community. The NRWA and BSC Group gave introductory presentations on the project and the concept of Nature-based Solutions.

View NRWA Municipal Kickoff MVP Presentation (PDF) and Kickoff Video. (3:12 min.)

View BSC Group’s Nashua River Watershed MVP Natural Climate Solutions Project video. (11:07 min.)

Community Meeting One (in-person)

NRWA conducted extensive outreach to bring members of each project community together to gather their knowledge on issues facing their community. Materials promoting community engagement in these meetings were prepared in the three most common locally spoken languages in an effort to reach a broad audience. View flyers in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.

The first meetings were held in-person in each of the five participant communities. The BSC Group gave an introductory presentation on the project and the concept of Nature-based Solutions. NRWA staff provided instructions to participants who then moved into small groups where they held focused conversations on community specific climate and environmental issues, attendee ideas for solutions, and identifying specific locations in the community that could benefit from Nature-based Solutions to address an existing issue.

Town specific information can be viewed by selecting the community at the top of this page.

Community Meeting Two (on zoom)

Those who participated in the first community meetings were encouraged to attend a second meeting to be conducted by three zooms, one for Fitchburg, one for Leominster, and a combined zoom for Ashburnham, Groton, and Pepperell. Consultants from BSC Group presented maps showing locations of sites that were identified for consideration at the first meeting.  Attendees reviewed each site to further discuss the issues at the site and potential natural solutions that could be applied. They worked to create a refined focus list of sites to be further explored by site walk to determine their appropriateness to be included in this project.

Town specific information can be viewed by selecting the community at the top of this page.

Community Site Visits

Next steps will see project partners and local citizens conducting site visits at each site identified in the second community meeting. Additionally, in support of this project, the NRWA has coordinated with the Devens Enterprise Commission to conduct a tour of Nature-based Solution sites in Devens allowing attendees to see these Solutions in action. At left, tour participants are viewing an example of a bioinfiltration basin where a curb cut allows rainfall from storms to move off the parking lot into an area of soil and natural plantings, slowing the flow of the water and allowing it to infiltrate into the ground rather than run off into the nearest waterway. Photo courtesy of the Devens Enterprise Commission.

Town specific information can be viewed by selecting the community at the top of this page. 

About this Grant Project

The NRWA is serving as the lead coordinator on “City of Fitchburg/Nashua River Watershed-Wide Nature-based Solutions Project”, a $400K MVP Action Grant awarded to the cities of Fitchburg and Leominster, and the towns of Ashburnham, Groton, and Pepperell for this two-year project.  

The NRWA will work with the five focus communities to develop a plan to address these issues, including:

• An interactive tool kit with maps showing locations of suggested Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in 5 focus municipalities
• An explanation, with pictures of what each NBS is and how it is best implemented
• Outreach and education in the cities and towns, including educational programming in public schools in the five focus municipalities

The information and recommendations developed for these five municipalities will be transferable to other communities throughout the watershed. Watershed-wide maps will be developed that identify the soils and locations most amendable to NBS. The NRWA will develop a website that includes these maps and a watershed-wide Nature-based Solution Plan accessible to all 32 watershed communities.

This MVP grant was awarded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, which is administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA).

For questions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., NRWA Conservation and Climate Resilience Specialist, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., NRWA Climate Resiliency Coordinator & Educator. 

Restoring Riverbanks Throughout the Nashua River Watershed

The Nashua River Watershed Association is proud to be partnering with the Merrimack River Watershed Council on a project focused on creating resilient riparian buffers, or riverbanks, to help protect water sources throughout the Merrimack River Watershed. As a part of the Merrimack River watershed, the NRWA received a subaward in May of 2021 to implement riparian resilience projects, which involves riverfront restoration efforts, sharing educational information about climate-resilience practices, and increasing connections with landowners across watershed communities in Massachusetts.

A primary goal of this initiative is to plant native tree and shrub species in riparian areas that lack a well-vegetated buffer. By restoring shorelines along our waterways, the NRWA seeks to reduce water temperatures, manage riverbank erosion, filter runoff or pollution, sequester carbon, and enhance native biodiversity. Additionally, invasive species removal efforts through this program will help improve growing conditions for newly planted seedlings and allow existing native species to thrive.

As the season shifts into late summer and early fall, our staff is ramping up restoration efforts to take advantage of ideal planting conditions. Both public and private properties can qualify for native seedlings, so the NRWA wants to hear from you!

Do You Live Next to a Sparsely Vegetated Stream or Riverbank?
You May Qualify for Free Native Tree and Shrub Seedlings!

The NRWA is seeking public input on potential planting sites along rivers, streams, and tributaries throughout the Massachusetts portion of the Nashua River. If you own a property in the watershed that abuts or encompasses a waterway with a sparsely vegetated or unvegetated bank, and are interested in learning if you qualify for free silky dogwood (Cornus amomum) or silver maple (Acer saccharinum) seedlings, please contact us! Please note that well-vegetated or forested areas do not qualify at this time.

Our staff is happy to follow up on public submissions or suggestions for restoration sites. However, the following questions can help you do a quick initial check to see if your property might be a good fit for our restoration program:

• Do you own property in Massachusetts within the Nashua River Watershed? List of Watershed Communities
• Does your property abut or encompass a river, stream, or tributary?
• Are some or all of the banks of this waterway unvegetated or sparsely vegetated?
• Are you interested in improving the ecological health and climate resilience of your land?

If you believe your property may qualify for native tree plantings under this restoration initiative, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at the NRWA or (978) 448-0299 for additional details and information. 

This work is funded through the “Resilient riparian forest management protects source water in the Merrimack River watershed” project led by the Merrimack River Watershed Council under a US Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration grant.

NRWA Pollinator Garden: Created Through Community

In summer our gardens are filled with pollinators like bees, butterflies, birds and others. These busy foragers are more important than you may realize. About 75% of flowering plants and 35% of the world’s food crops depend on them for reproduction. Scientists even estimate that they are responsible for every one out of three bites of food we eat! But our pollinators are in trouble. Habitat loss, diseases, parasites, and environmental contaminants are causing their numbers to decline. In the last five years we have lost three of our local Bumblebee species and three more are threatened. Which is where our gardeners come in to help! By creating pollinator friendly gardens, we can help out these declining yet vital animals. Gardens provide the right kind of environment for these amazing creatures to do their job, especially when there aren’t enough native plants around. From including one or two native plants in an established garden to incorporating a variety of them, a pollinator garden is a great way to support our unsung hero pollinators. 

These gardens play a vital role in growing the pollinator population and ours at the River Resource Center wouldn’t be possible without the generous aid and support of local community individuals and organizations. The Pepperell Garden Club, Deb Fountain, and Jeanne Nevard donated an array of plants, adding their own unique touch to the garden. Their thoughtful contributions have brought life and color to the land and created a haven for the pollinators. We extend our appreciation to these plant donors for their invaluable support.

The transformation of the garden was made possible through the dedication and hard work of a remarkable team of volunteers from Bemis Associates in Shirley. With enthusiasm, they undertook the task of uprooting grass and planting the donated greenery and flowers, reshaping the landscape into a vibrant oasis. Their commitment and labor have left an incredible mark on the garden and we are very grateful for their selfless contribution.

Images: Pollinator garden photos by Gaynor Bigelbach.