Charles River Watershed Association/Conservation Law Foundation Restoring the Urban Water Environment Over the last 50 years sprawling development in Greater Boston has substantially disrupted the region's natural water cycle.  More and more rainfall is directed to storm sewers, increasing the burden on local sewage treatment plants and short-circuiting the recharge of underground aquifers. In response to a looming water crisis in Eastern Massachusetts and with the support of the Barr Foundation, the Charles River Watershed Association and the Conservation Law Foundation are launching a collaborative effort to create an integrated, sustainable, region-wide water policy that will ensure adequate water supply and healthy, clean waterways in the Greater Boston area and beyond.

Well-maintained open space and water resources play a critical role in making Boston a more livable city. In addition to their importance in sustaining ecological systems, they have important social impacts: contributing to public health and well-being, preserving the character of communities, facilitating community building, and enhancing property values.

We are presently focusing our efforts on:

Restoration and stewardship of existing open space.
Addressing the upkeep of existing open space is a critical need—at this time greater than the need for new open spaces. We believe that by increasing the number and effectiveness of citizen advocates, public funding for this critical work will be increased.

Ensuring equal access to environmental amenities across neighborhoods.

Parks and other environmental amenities should be within walking distance from every urban neighborhood. We are helping community-based organizations enhance their ability to develop and to mobilize citizen advocates who can make the case for equitable public investment in creating and maintaining neighborhood parks and other amenities.

Improving the quality and quantity of water resources.
Healthy communities require a reliable water supply. Today, demand for water resources is outstripping supply in many communities in metropolitan Boston not served by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. At the same time, overdevelopment and the destruction of wetlands are compromising groundwater recharge, polluting rivers, and altering aquatic ecosystems. We are supporting research, citizen advocates, and programs to educate the public about their water resources.

Desired Outcomes

We hope that through our collaboration with a network of funders, nonprofits, civic and neighborhood leaders and issue experts to contribute to six critical outcomes for Boston:

• More effective citizen advocates for open space and water resources
• More effective watershed advocacy organizations
• Increased public and private funds for open space maintenance and the equitable allocation of funds across neighborhoods
• Enhanced collective action and regional collaboration among stakeholders—and an increased understanding of what works and what doesn’t
• More public awareness and understanding of the environmental function of land and water resources
• Increased use of environmental zoning to protect the region’s natural water cycle.

Measures

While addressing the challenges of open space and water resources will require years, we are measuring and learning as we go.

We support the work of the Boston Indicators Project, a collaborative initiative that provides objective information on such measures as the ratio between developed and undeveloped land, miles of accessible harbor walks, and acres of protected wetlands. For the most recent report on Boston’s environmental indicators, click here.

In addition, as an organization committed to learning, we are constantly assessing the effectiveness of our approaches and testing our underlying assumptions on what drives desired change. This self-reflection goes beyond evaluation of grantee results to focus on our impact on Boston’s environmental system as a whole:

• Has our effort to strengthen the network of environmental stakeholders and to support the development of shared knowledge helped the sector as a whole?
• Have efforts had unintended consequences for the city as a whole? For example, does open space encourage gentrification and exacerbate the shortage of affordable housing?

An Invitation

While our efforts are based on research and knowledge of the field, they remain our best bets. We’re eager to learn from your insights, experience, and creative ideas. We invite you to use our suggestion form if you have an idea you believe will further the strategy outlined in this section.