Whitney Pond Dam Removal & River Restoration Project: Ashburnham
Under a grant from the MA Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), the NRWA is helping to lead outreach and information efforts in Ashburnham in regards to the town's decision to remove the Whitney Pond Dam. The NRWA views dam removal on a case-by-case basis. Each dam, community, and waterway has its own unique set of circumstances that need to be fully understood in the decision-making process. In the end, the decision to repair or remove must be made by the dam owner, in this instance the Town of Ashburnham. Learn more about this project including information about the Whitney Pond Dam, videos of community meetings, plans and permitting documents, and benefits of removal and restoration.
Dam Removals Across New England
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.
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Meets MA DEP state-designated Outstanding Resource Water Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards [314 CMR 4.04(3)
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Is included in the Squannacook-Nissitissit Rivers Sanctuary Act (MGL, Part I, Title XIX, Chapter 123A, Section 17)
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Is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries “Essential Fish Habitat”
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Is a MA DFW Wildlife Management Area Reference Stream
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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.
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~50 acres of Shirley Zone 1 Municipal Wellhead Protection Area (a 1,000 foot zone extending from wellhead)
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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.
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Wildlands and Woodlands: Vision and Action
The Nashua River Watershed Association is a collaborator in the Wildlands and Woodlands Partnership (W&W), an informal network of organizations and individuals dedicated to the Wildlands and Woodlands Vision. The W&W Vision calls “for a 50-year conservation effort to retain at least 70% of New England in forestland, permanently free from development. Ninety percent of these protected forests would be ‘Woodlands,’ conserved by willing landowners and sustainably managed for multiple uses, from recreation to wood products. The remaining ten percent would be ‘Wildland’ reserves, identified by local communities and shaped only by the natural environment.”
To achieve this goal, the rate of protection must be radically increased. Partners will be collaborating on many levels to move conservation activities ahead with a focus on working with thousands of interested private landowners who wish to protect their land.
The NRWA advances the Vision principally through our land protection work enabled in part by the 2009 -2012 Forest Service Redesign grant in which we prepare municipal commissions to accept and steward conservation restrictions; assist town board members in landowner outreach and conservation project management; and engage foresters and their clients in land conservation initiatives. Our work with Forest Legacy projects has also advanced the W&W Vision through the permanent protection of 1,000s of acres of forestland in the watershed.
For more information about Wildlands and Woodlands and NRWA’s work to support the Vision, please contact Al Futterman, NRWA Land Programs Director, at (978) 448-0299, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
NRWA’s Forest Redesign Project
NRWA is undertaking a three-year (2009 to 2012) Forest Redesign project, “Working with Municipalities, Foresters and Landowners to Increase Forest Conservation and Ensure Sound Forest Stewardship,” funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry grant.
Conceived in 2007, “Redesigning” is a new approach within State and Private Forestry that is improving the ability to identify the greatest threats to forest sustainability and accomplish meaningful change in high priority areas. These projects target the three national themes: protect forests from harm, conserve working forest landscapes, and enhance public benefits from trees and forests.
NRWA’s partnership project focuses on the forested landscape of south-central New Hampshire and north-central Massachusetts, an area dominated by small, non-industrial private forest ownerships which are highly threatened with fragmentation and conversion to non-forest uses (such as housing and commercial development). The goal of this project is to increase the protection and stewardship of working forests by:
- Supporting forest conservation programs and providing workshops to rural municipal officials, foresters, and landowners; and,
- Educating current and subsequent generations of conservation easement (CE) landowners about their responsibilities, and training those responsible for easement monitoring.
This project supports the work being done to protect forests through the Forest Legacy program. Our partners in the Forest Redesign project are North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership and the Highland Communities Initiative of the Trustees of Reservations.
Forest Legacy: Protection on a Landscape Scale
The Nashua River Watershed Association and its partners utilize the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy program to protect thousands of acres of forested land in our watershed. The focus of the Forest Legacy program is to protect forests from conversion to non-forest uses. Undeveloped forests slow the flow of water across the land allowing it to be filtered and purified before reaching water supplies. These forested lands prevent contaminants from reaching our rivers, streams, and wetlands; they provide wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities; and they help to sustain the local working forest economy. Our forests are among the best in the country for providing clean drinking water, and lie within a short distance of major metropolitan areas.
The Quabbin Reservoir to Wachusett Mountain (Q2W) project, in which NRWA is a partner, is currently ranked by President as the second most important forest protection project in the United States. This places the project in excellent position to be funded, but that funding is dependent on passage of a federal 2013 budget that provides adequate monies to the Forest Legacy program. The Q2W project application seeks $5,045,000 to protect 3,275 acres in the towns of Barre, Hubbardston, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, and Westminster. Sixty-eight projects from across the nation submitted for funding in the 2013 federal budget, were cut to a list of 20 potential projects, which were then ranked for funding. This complex project to protect multiple properties involves 23 landowners, town boards, and a multitude of organizations including NRWA, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of Water Supply Protection, East Quabbin Land Trust, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, North County Land Trust, and the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, acting as lead partner.
The Southern Monadnock Plateau Forest Legacy project was presented for funding in three phases. Phase I of the project requested and received $2.6 million and protected 1,162 acres in Ashburnham, Ashby, Fitchburg, and Westminster. The work to protect the final parcel in this phase was completed in October 2010. Approximately 2,000 acres in Ashburnham, Ashby, Fitchburg, and New Ipswich, NH will be protected by Phase II, which requested and received $3.3 million. The final application, Phase III, asked for $5 million to protect 2,233 acres in Ashburnham, Ashby, Gardner, Westminster, Winchendon, and Mason, NH. Although the project received a relatively high ranking for federal funding, it appears that there will be insufficient funds in the 2012 Forest Legacy budget to fund this phase. The three phases of this project were collaboratively developed and executed by NRWA, North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership (as lead partner), the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, North County Land Trust, Ashby Land Trust, Ashburnham Conservation Trust, and officials from the involved towns. View project map.
Each of these Forest Legacy applications pieced together small individual priority parcels across town and state lines into large corridors of protected working forests-- what our Land Programs Director refers to as “quilting a corridor.” The Forest Legacy program funds 75% of a project, so each application had to demonstrate a minimum 25% local match. The applications then underwent a competitive review process at both the state and federal levels, with only the top ranked projects receiving funding. Once federal funding is received, local partners proceed with the protection of each individual parcel through such vehicles as Conservation Restrictions or fee-simple transfer of ownership.
Our Forest Legacy builds on our previous U.S. EPA funded "Protecting Today's Water for Tomorrow" project, and our Source Water Stewardship Project.
If you are a landowner interested in protecting your forest property, we offer our FAQs for Landowners. For more information about Forest Legacy or other land protection programs, please contact Al Futterman, NRWA Land Programs and Outreach Director, at the NRWA at (978) 448-0299, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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