NRWA 50th Anniversary logo and Polluted and Restored Nashua River images

NRWA 50th Anniversary Celebration!

It’s the 50th Anniversary of the Nashua River Watershed Association!  Join our year-long celebration!

We are proud of the tremendous progress we’ve made restoring our rivers, protecting their greenways, and inspiring tomorrow’s stewards. We look forward to our collective future—working together to protect this beautiful place we call home.

Free Community Program Series

We want to celebrate with you, and we’re offering opportunities to paddle on our rivers, hike on our trails, tour our cities, and observe our wildlife. In 2019, there will be a free program in each of our 32 communities. Everyone is invited to attend.  Come to one program or come to all!

View our 50th Anniversary Calendar of Free Community Programs. For details on specific programs, view our Upcoming Programs and Events.

Anniversary Video Series

We've made a series of short videos to share our story with you. Watch for more chapters to come.

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 (release date Dec. 19)
Chapter 5:  Supporting Recreation (release date Dec. 26)
Chapter 6:  Looking Forward (release date Dec. 29)

 Timeline

Together, over the past five decades, we have had tremendous impact. View the Timeline highlighting our progress. NRWA has always served as a forward-thinking, regional leader, with both the deep-rooted knowledge of our watershed, and the connections and expertise to collaborate with hundreds of partners—state and federal legislators and agencies, local communities, schools, businesses, land trusts, outdoor sporting groups, and sister organizations. The breadth of this work cannot be accomplished alone. We are deeply grateful to the thousands of members and volunteers—like you—who make these achievements possible.  Thank you!!  Celebrate what we’ve accomplished together!!

 

Thank you to all of the businesses that are supporting our 50th Anniversary celebration!

Presenting Sponsor

Rollstone Bank & Trust logo
 Anniversary Sponsors

CanAm Machinery, Inc. logoEnterprise Bank logo   

 

Event Sponsors

  Carvers Guild logo Century 21 Cardinal logo      2019 Catalano

Ecological Fibers logo Emerson Green logo ETR Labs logo

Fidelity Bank logo Fitchburg State University logo Hertel & Konish Wealth Management logo

Hollingsworth Vose logo Lexvest Group logo  Main Street Bank logo

 

Middlesex Savings Bank logo New England Peptide logo Perkins & Anctil logo 

Roots Natural Foods logoRouthier & Sons logo Simonds International logo

 

  Starr Vander Linden logo Wachusett Mountain logo Workers Credit Union logo

Cabelas logo     Rotary Club of Ayer Shirely Harvard Devens logo JPEG Format 300 DPI     Ramya Suresh DMD

 

Anniversary Friends

Atlas Distributing, Inc. 

Better Homes & Gardens, The Masiello Group

Bob Feldman, Marketing and Sales Advisor

Charles River Canoe & Kayak

Durand and Anastas Environmental Strategies

Farm Design, Inc.

Foster Insurance Agency, Inc.

Gary Knowlton Inc.

Greatscapes by R&R Landscaping

The Groton Inn and Forge & Vine

Groton Market

Jeff & Sons Carpentry

Mark Randall DMD

Maureen Giattino

Nashoba Air & Boilerworks

Pine & Swallow Associates

Rotary Club of Groton-Pepperell

Shirley Package Store

 

Thank you to those who provided images for our 50th Anniversary Calendar of Free Community Programs.  Cover: Great blue heron by Harvey Serreze. Back cover: Cindy Knox Photography.  Interior (in calendar order): Nashua River in winter by Bill Nickerson; family eco-adventures by Gaynor Bigelbach; Baltimore oriole by Harvey Serreze; curious about nature by Gaynor Bigelbach; fishing on the Nashua River by Martha Morgan; Marion Stoddart kayaking by Nancy Ohringer; and River Classroom canoes on the Squannacook River by Nancy Ohringer. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the NRWA rent canoes and kayaks?

A: No, but we’d be happy to refer you to local outfitters who do and to provide you with ideas of great places to paddle. Don’t forget to consider buying an NRWA Canoe and Kayak Guide for maps of the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers and information on put ins, hazards, and what you might see during your paddle.

Q: Is the NRWA a governmental agency?

A: No, we are not a governmental, regulatory, or enforcement entity. The NRWA is an independent 501( c )(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the natural resources within our geographic region as defined by the watershed of the Nashua River. The NRWA works closely with federal, state and local government officials and agencies to forward our mission. As a non-profit, the NRWA depends on the support of members, donors, and grantmakers (including some government grants).

Q: What is a watershed?

A: Click here. The NRWA uses the term “watershed” to define both the geographic region in which we work as well as our approach to protecting resources, i.e. melding projects to further good land use choices in order to protect water quality and forming inter-municipal and inter-state coalitions to act on a regional landscape.

Q: Does the NRWA purchase land for conservation?

A: While it has been NRWA’s decision to date not to seek to hold land in fee or Conservation Restriction on land, it is not prohibited by our by-laws. In cases of last resort where no other eligible conservation entity will hold a Conservation Restriction, the NRWA may consider doing so. View NRWA General Policy on Conservation Restrictions. Although the NRWA does not itself hold land, the NRWA works in partnership with other entities to facilitate the protection of priority parcels.

Q: Are the rivers safe to swim in?

A: Although the NRWA would not generally recommend swimming in the Nashua River due to continuing issues with non-point source pollution, there are many places to swim in the watershed. Most towns and cities in the watershed maintain town beaches on their ponds. Some of these beaches are open to the general public and some are restricted to town residents. The Town Clerk will provide you with information on access to area ponds in any given town.

Q: Is it safe to eat fish (bass, panfish, catfish, etc.) caught in the Nashua River?

A: MA Fish Consumption Advisories
A: NH Freshwater Fish Consumption Guidelines

Privacy Policy

Introduction

We have created this statement to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy. We do not collect personally identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Providing such information is strictly voluntary. This policy is your guide to how we will handle information we learn about you from your visit to our Web site.

Use of Links

Throughout our Web pages, we provide links to other servers which may contain information of interest to our readers. We take no responsibility for, and exercise no control over, the organizations, views, or accuracy of the information contained on other servers. Creating a text link from your Web site to our site does not require permission. If you have a link you'd like us to consider adding to our Web site, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject "Link request."

Use of Text and Images

If you would like to publish information that you find on our Web site, please send your request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Accessibility

This Web site is designed to be accessible to visitors with disabilities, and to comply with federal guidelines concerning accessibility. We welcome your comments. If you have suggestions on how to make the site more accessible, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Reading or Downloading

We collect and store only the following information about you: the name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are connecting from an America Online account, or princeton.edu if you are connecting from Princeton University's domain), the date and time you access our site, and the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked to our site.

We use the information we collect to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, and to help us make our site more useful to visitors.

Online Profile Updates and Donations

If you share personally identifying information, this information will be used only to provide you with more targeted content. We may use your contact information to send further information about our organization or to contact you when necessary. You may always opt-out of receiving future mailings; see the "Opt Out" section below.

Sending us an Email

You also may decide to send us personally identifying information, for example, in an electronic mail message containing a question or comment, or by filling out a Web form that provides us this information. We use personally identifying information from email primarily to respond to your requests. We may forward your email to other employees who are better able to answer you questions. We may also use your email to contact you in the future about our programs that may be of interest.

We want to be very clear: We will not obtain personally identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Providing such information is strictly voluntary. Except as might be required by law, we do not share any information we receive with any outside parties.

If you sign up for one of our email lists, we will only send you the kinds of information you have requested. We won't share your name or email address with any outside parties.

Kids and Privacy

For children who visit our site, special rules apply. We do not request personal information about children, such as first and last name or street address and city. When kids send email to us, their online contact information (email address) is not used to re-contact them and is not maintained in retrievable form.

Opt-Out or Change Your Contact Information

Our site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us through a special online form. You may choose to receive only specific communications or none at all. You may also update your contact information previously provided to us through another online form.

Questions about our policies

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (978) 448-0299.

Contact Nashua River Watershed Association

Mailing address:
Nashua River Watershed Association
592 Main Street
Groton, MA 01450-1230

Phone: (978) 448-0299


General email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Individual staff emails

Regular office hours are Monday thru Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
(with the exception of holidays and special occasions)

For a Google Map and directions to the NRWA River Resource Center.

For questions or comments about this website, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

NRWA Intern

NRWA Internships: Learning on the Job

The Nashua River Watershed Association offers paid and unpaid internships to individuals interested in learning more about the fields of natural resource protection, environmental education, and non-profit communications and development. Interns have an opportunity to work closely with NRWA’s professional staff on a specialized project or with a broader exposure to the range of work conducted by the Association. Interns have worked with our water monitoring program, assisted our educators with classroom lessons, field trips, as well as leading outdoor summer youth programs. Interns may assist with development and publicity work with activities ranging for helping to organize large mailings to creating displays for outreach events. Questions? Please contact Joanne Ward, NRWA Office Administrator, at (978) 448-0299, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..