NRWA Dam Removals in Massachusetts Presentation PDF

Across New England, aging and unsafe dam infrastructure has led to an increase in dam removals. These dam removals can provide significant public safety and ecological benefits, from a reduced risk of flooding to restored river connectivity. Supported by the MA Division of Ecological Restoration, the Nashua River Watershed Association offered educational talks about dam removals in Massachusetts, covering a general overview of why and how unsafe dams are removed, and what changes you might expect to see in your community as a result. Presentations were made possible in part by a grant from the MA Division of Ecological Restoration. View NRWA 2024 Dam Removal Presentation slideshow PDF.

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Using Nature to Adapt to Climate Change in the Nashua River Watershed

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 to address those issues. Citizen input is key to the process as NRWA, town leadership, and consultants work to identify specific sites and solutions to help each community become more climate resilient. The concepts developed in these five communities will then be applied to create a Nashua River Watershed Nature-based Solutions Plan with tools accessible to all of our watershed communities. This project is funded by a Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant. Learn more about this project and Nature-based Solutions.

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NRWA 2022 Water Report

The Nashua River Watershed Association is pleased to share our 2022 Water Report. This new report analyzes the results of our 2022 water monitoring season covering topics such as: what do we study and why? what do the results tell us about the health of our waterways? what sections of rivers or streams are facing water quality challenges? The report is detailed and provides supporting images, graphs, and charts.

Thank you as always to our team of volunteer water monitors. In 2022, they collected 877 individual surface water samples. Their dedication makes our work to protect our waterways possible. This Report is dedicated to all of you.

Read the NRWA’s 2022 Water Report.

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NRWA 2023-2028 Strategic Plan

The NRWA is pleased to share its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, a guide to our priorities for our next five years. The Plan is the result of months of conversations, partner listening sessions, and a survey of supporters. We asked for your input, we listened, and your feedback is reflected in this directional piece. We look forward to working with you to achieve these goals. View online. Download single page for print.

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Nashua River Watershed Association Statement on MassWildlife’s Proposed Oak Woodlands Restoration at Squannacook River Wildlife Management Area

The MA Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) has proposed an Oak Woodlands Restoration project on 215 acres at the Squannacook River Wildlife Management Area (SRWMA), which will result in altering the current forested landscape to an open woodland. The project would require significant clearing of the existing forest, periodic fire management, and herbicide applications. For a more detailed description of the goals of the proposed project and restoration activities, please see: mass.gov/info-details/oak-woodland-restoration-at-squannacook-river-wma.

The Nashua River Watershed Association (NRWA) has been closely keeping track of this proposed project and wishes to share the following significant attributes of the SRWMA project site, which MassWildlife has indicated would be Phase 1* of a multi-phase undertaking:

Abuts ~2 miles of the federally-designated Squannacook Wild & Scenic River, which is also a state-designated Coldwater Fisheries Resource;
Is within the state-designated Squannassit Area of Critical Environmental Concern; and
Is a Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Priority Habitat Area.
Meets MA DEP state-designated Outstanding Resource Water Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards [314 CMR 4.04(3)
Is included in the Squannacook-Nissitissit Rivers Sanctuary Act (MGL, Part I, Title XIX, Chapter 123A, Section 17)
Is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries “Essential Fish Habitat”
Is a MA DFW Wildlife Management Area Reference Stream
US Geological Survey (USGS) gage on the Squannacook River was used as a least impacted site to set flow policy for the state’s Water Management Act. The river is also used as a “clean water” least impacted site by MA DEP’s SMART monitoring program. Water quality information from this site was used in the development of statewide Water Quality Standards including nutrients and pollutant loading analysis.
~50 acres of Shirley Zone 1 Municipal Wellhead Protection Area (a 1,000 foot zone extending from wellhead)
Subject property partially overlays a medium yield aquifer ½ mile upstream from the W. Groton Water Supply District public wellheads.

This site has long been recognized as an area worthy of the highest-level protection and preservation for its existing outstandingly remarkable environmental resource values. Therefore, proposed alteration of the site should be subject to particularly rigorous analysis.

In February of 2022 the NRWA requested that MassWildlife consider at least a three-year moratorium on advancing the proposed project while MassWildlife, NRWA, and other partners:

Identify alternate sites that meet MassWildlife’s state-wide goals for Oak Woodland Habitat;
Undertake additional studies on SRWMA; and
Assess the impact of the scale of the proposed project.

Through dialogue with MassWildlife, the NRWA understands that MassWildlife cannot agree to a moratorium. MassWildlife has communicated a commitment to transparency and to proceeding on a timeline with opportunities for site walks and public engagement.

In addition, public comment periods which are required as part of local and state permitting would precede any actual site work by MassWildlife. Opportunities for comments would occur at both Shirley and Townsend Conservation Commission meetings, and potentially be associated with an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) review. After reviewing forthcoming documents, the NRWA will offer detailed comments during the public comment periods as they arise.

* The NRWA notes that potential future Phases of the proposed project have not yet been described, but that the entire Squannacook River Wildlife Management Area encompasses a total of more than 1,300 acres.

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NRWA 50th Anniversary Video Series

In 2019, the NRWA celebrated its 50th Anniversary. As part of our celebration, we created a series of six short videos looking at where we began, where we are and where we are going in the future. We hope you enjoy this look at NRWA and what we accomplish together! Thank you!

Chapter 1: The Beginning (2:38 min.)
Chapter 2: Protecting Water (2:28 min.)
Chapter 3: Protecting Land (2:20 min.)
Chapter 4: Providing Education (1:55 min.)
Chapter 5: Supporting Recreation (1:49 min.)
Chapter 6: Looking Forward (2:31 min.)

Thank you to our 50th Anniversary Sponsors for making this series possible: Presenting Sponsor, Rollstone Bank & Trust, and Anniversary Sponsors, CanAm Machinery and Enterprise Bank.

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Controlling Invasive Water Chestnut

The NRWA has been working with the state and local entities, as well as volunteers to control the infestation and spread of invasive water chestnut in the Nashua River. Learn more.

View new video "NRWA Water Chestnut Pull: Volunteers in Action. (3:14 min) produced by Max McCormick of NorthPoint Productions.

Squannacook River - photo by Cindy Knox Photography

Mitigating Impacts of Climate Change

Although far reaching and sometimes severe climate-related impacts in our watershed are increasing, many actions can be taken by individuals, municipalities, conservation groups, and businesses to mitigate the hydrologic and ecologic impacts of climate change. Such actions will make our environment more resilient, mitigate impacts, help to reduce overall climate change, and even improve the quality of our watershed for generations to come.

Primary strategies to mitigate hydrologic impacts include reducing stormwater flows and creating groundwater reserves to feed wetlands and small streams during drought periods. The primary strategies to address ecological issues include creating corridors for species migration and protecting important habitat areas.

Primary large-scale strategies to mitigate ecological impacts focus on ensuring resilient and connected areas as well as connections within and across the watershed to regional corridors that allow migration of wildlife and plants into and out of the watershed.

The Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers, together with the other rivers and streams throughout the watershed, create connections for migration among numerous small protected areas. These separated but interconnected areas function in many ways as larger protected areas having ecological corridors. Since many of the most vulnerable species, such as vernal pool species, are not able to migrate, the protection of targeted areas for the preservation of those species is also critical. There are evolving adaptation strategies, such as assisted migration of more southern species being planted or moved further north along and above their current range, that continue to be investigated and researched.

The specific strategies outlined here range in scale from those that are within the scope of individuals and small landowners to those that require coordinated efforts by conservation groups, municipalities, and regional and state authorities. Many strategies simultaneously address both hydrologic and ecologic issues.

Watershed Impact References

Water Impacts

Climate Impacts in the Northeast, incl. increases in rainfall: https://archive.epa.gov/epa/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-northeast.html

Ecology Impacts

2009 National Climate Assessment “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States”: https://nca2009.globalchange.gov/

Declining Species

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DECLINE-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019.pdf

Left to right Indigo bunting by Nancy Lebedzinski; Nissitissit River by Ken Hartlage; Bolton Flats by Chris Buelow

Climate Change Impacts on Ecology in the Nashua River Watershed

In the Nashua River watershed, geology, hydrology, and climate have combined in a unique way to create one of the most complex landscapes and some of the most diverse habitat anywhere. The diversity of our landscape begins with geology. This area contains remarkable concentrations of glacial landforms: extensive areas of eskers, kames and kettles; an impressive “swarm” of drumlins; broad ground moraines; and areas scraped bare by the glacier. In the middle of our watershed once stood Glacial Lake Nashua, more than thirty miles long, stretching from Boylston, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire, and bounded by walls of ice. Remnants of the lake are all around, ranging from lakebed deposits to hanging deltas sitting high above the current valley floor. This set of landforms left intricate and varied topography and soils.

This area also lies precisely at the transition between two forest biomes. One is the northern hardwood-hemlock-pine forests, which extend north to Canada. The other is the central deciduous-oak-hickory forests, which extend south to Georgia. Biomes are communities of plants that tend to exist together. At the transition of biomes, both sets of vegetation exist together. Complex combinations of the vegetation characteristic of each biome are found throughout the watershed.

Red maple and birch swamp in Townsend, MA - photo by Kimberly King An ecosystem thrives on diversity and interconnections between habitats. The more types of habitat, the greater the density and diversity of plants and animals. The river system, in particular, creates such interconnections.

The confluence of diverse habitat and interconnection has yielded unusual biodiversity, including major concentrations of rare and endangered species. Perhaps the best measure of our biodiversity is the presence of several rare or threatened species of turtles. Many of these turtles are wanderers, moving overland between different wetland areas. The complex distribution of wetlands and streams, combined with the varied uplands, provides critical habitat for these species.

Throughout the watershed there is also an unusual concentration of vernal pools, where many unique but vulnerable creatures, such as our salamanders, breed. Vernal pools and our woodland marshes give rise to springtime peepers.

In addition to many rare species, this landscape is home to coyote, fisher, and, increasingly, bobcat, moose, and bear. It also supports a myriad of birds, butterflies, and dragonflies. This remarkable diversity has led to three Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), representing more than a quarter of all the ACEC lands in Massachusetts, being established within the watershed and the designation by the federal government of significant portions of the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers as Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Extensive impacts to the ecology of the watershed are being caused by numerous climate-related changes. These impacts will significantly diminish the biodiversity and richness of the watershed unless actions are taken to increase resiliency and to better allow species to adapt.

Major Impacts to Ecology

The major ecological impacts of climate in the Nashua River watershed include the following:

Changing Landscapes

One of the major consequences of regional warming is shifting of our forest biomes. The two major biomes that intersect in the watershed are "migrating" northward in response to warming temperatures. Within the next 30 to 50 years, conditions within our local landscape may become better suited to the more southerly forest biome, and this will cause a significant reduction in the biodiversity and richness of our landscape.

As the forest biome zones move northward, not all plants will shift together, and therefore plant communities will also change. Many local species of wildlife have adapted over long periods of time to these plant communities and may be reduced in numbers or disappear as the habitat changes.

Ecosystems are interconnected, synergistic, and complex. The web of life is vulnerable in ways that are unpredictable. The imprint of humanity, developed lands, and fragmented landscapes makes ecological adaptation difficult. Also, the rate of change is currently very rapid, further challenging adaptation.

Maps of projected changes in forest biomes due to climate change - 2009 National Climate Assessment

Projected Changes in Forest Biomes due to Climate Change. From 2009 National Climate Assessment “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States.”

Invasives

Plants: Increased temperatures, especially less severe winters, will allow additional invasive (non-native) plant species to move into the watershed. As existing plant species become less competitive, invasives may be increasingly able to move in to replace them and take over areas. For example, some forests may be particularly vulnerable to increased invasions of Norway Maple and Buckthorn, which can outcompete native species. Over time, this can create monocultures with greatly reduced ecologic value. Another example is the increasing prevalence of Japanese Knotweed, a type of bamboo from Asia. It has become well established, especially in many disturbed locations along our rivers and streams and along roadsides, where it tends to form dense thickets and displace native plants.

Pests: Increased temperatures have led to the expansion of areas infested with new species of insects not previously in the watershed, some of which, such as the Elongated Scale and the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, have caused extensive damage. As temperatures continue to rise, additional pests will invade, potentially causing the loss of key plant species.

Changing Seasons

The timing of seasons is shifting, affecting insects and the migrating and nesting birds that are dependent on them. The ecosystem of the watershed is complex, and the changing climate will have a detrimental impact on the flora and the fauna that is dependent upon it.

Declining Species

Insects: Significant declines in insect populations have been noted for many years. Although the focus has been on pollinator insects that are essential to many plant species, insects are an essential component of the entire ecosystem with many other species dependent on them.

Birds: A recent study, published in the journal Science, indicates that bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29% over the past 50 years. This translates to a population loss of 2.9 billion birds. While there are many potential causes of the decline, such as land use changes and pesticide usage, climate change is involved. Changes to local habitat are certainly among the potential local causes.

General Wildlife: As temperatures warm and vegetation communities shift, habitat will decline and will not be adequate to support existing wildlife populations. Different wildlife species will seek ways to survive either by migrating to areas with adequate habitat or by adapting to the changes. The net result will be an overall decrease in the biological density.

Aquatic Habitats

Changing flow patterns will alter the suitability of streams as a habitat for aquatic life. This may include a decrease in the riffle-pool habitats preferred by many bottom-dwelling organisms that supply food for fish. Cobble-gravel stream bottoms may get clogged by increased siltation after scouring and erosion events. This may hinder spawning activities of fish. Changing sediment loads may alter the shape of channels. Together, these changes may decrease the quality and quantity of available habitat, inhibit reproduction and hinder the natural movement of aquatic organisms.

Adaptation-Migration Impediments

The interconnections among species and with landscape features are sometimes subtle but always powerful. The changing climate will disrupt the hydrologic and landscape systems in ways that will, in turn, disrupt the local and regional ecosystems.

Nature responds to change either by adapting to new conditions or through species migration. Some species, including some of our most vulnerable local species (such as those that require vernal pools or special habitat), do not have the ability to migrate and so must find ways to adapt if they are to survive.

Although the Earth has experienced major temperature swings and disruptions in the past, one of the major differences now is the rate of temperature change is too rapid to allow adaptation by some species. Another difference is the enormous number of barriers to natural migration due to human development. Major highways and heavily developed areas block movement, while fragmentation of the landscape prevents many species from moving to new areas where they can continue to survive.

Old undersized culvert scoured by flooding causes disrupted stream flow - photo by Kathryn Nelson Scouring by floods. Old undersized and poorly sited culverts can become scoured by flooding from excessive rain events leading to the disruption of stream continuity as the culvert now sits above the stream level which prevents movement of fish and other aquatic species.

Banner images at top (left to right): Indigo bunting, a neotropical migrant bird dependent on our watershed habitats during migration, photo by Nancy Lebedzinski; Nissitissit River, a valuable coldwater fishery with native trout populations, photo by Ken Hartlage; Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area runs along the Nashua River in Lancaster, Bolton, and Harvard, and features specialized habitats like High-Terrace Floodplain Forest and Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak woods, photo by Chris Buelow.

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Nashua River Watershed Investigations K - 8th Grade Lessons^©

The Nashua River Watershed Investigations K - 8th Grade Lessons^© is a selection of science, nature, and technology curriculum-supporting activities for use by teachers, students, families, and the general public. These lessons were created and produced by the Nashua River Watershed Association, Inc. Each lesson is designed to support the 2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Standards for K - 8 and the national Next Generation Science Standards. There are 3 lessons per grade level.

Please note: any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

You may print or download to a local hard disk drive extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only.
You may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material.
You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content.

The NRWA Educators have developed these Investigations over the last two decades with generous support from individuals, businesses, and foundations -- including the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts and an anonymous foundation -- and with the invaluable insights of the teachers with whom we partner. We thank everyone who has been involved in this project, which is still evolving to meet the needs of today's students, teachers, and parents.