What's Happening Now

Our GPA with the EPA: Muddy River Water-Quality Report Card

By Matt Eddy, MMOC Administrator

This Guest Opinion piece appears in the October, 2024 issue of The Fenway News.

Another year, another less-than-stellar grade for water quality in the Muddy River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) and its legion of dedicated volunteers, recently announced that the Muddy has earned a grade of C for 2023. The grade is calculated based on measurements of bacteria, sewage overflows, and algal blooms in comparison to national standards for fishable and swimmable waters. The grade remains consistent with previous years (C last year and C- the year before).

There is something that might feel inescapable about this string of low grades for our river. The durable fact is that the Muddy is an urban river and as such it will continue to receive stormwater from our roads and parking lots, carrying with it all the pollutants of urban life. Regardless of our best efforts, our dogs and wild geese will still poop, fertilizer will still run off our lawns, and winter’s road salt will run off our parkways. Aging and leaky underground sewer pipes cannot always handle heavy flow during major storms. Brookline’s Village Brook and Boston’s Stony Brook remain buried under the city streets, with no upcoming plans for daylighting. However, even with these challenges, the efforts of public agencies, private citizens, and nonprofits like CRWA have the potential to make a significant difference. 

Several public works projects are underway that aim to improve water quality. Municipalities in the watershed have developed EPA-mandated “Phosphorus Control Plans” that include ambitious goals for reducing the quantity of phosphorus delivered to rivers and streams. As part of their plan, the Town of Brookline is designing an underground stormwater infiltration system beneath Pierce Playground. Runoff from the Buttonwood and Chestnut Hill neighborhoods of Brookline may soon be diverted to the Brookline Reservoir, where natural biological and chemical processes will reduce the pollutant load, sparing the Muddy. Similarly, the City of Boston is planning a green stormwater infrastructure system (GSI) to be installed under the Daisy Field ballfields. These and other projects are expected to significantly reduce the bacterial and nutrient load affecting the Muddy River.

Some may wonder about the impact of the recently completed Muddy River Restoration Project on water quality. The project included the dredging of over 90,000 cubic yards of sediment from the riverbed, which removed a substantial mass of legacy contaminants such as oils, arsenic, lead, and PCBs that had accumulated for decades. While these improvements may not be captured in the EPA grade, they have nonetheless contributed to cleaner river conditions.

Another key dimension of the Restoration Project has been implementation of “best management practices” (BMPs) for the stormwater systems for Boston, Brookline, and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). BMPs have included more frequent inspections of stormwater pipes and outfalls, installation of plastic liners inside leaky sewer pipes, more intensive street sweeping and catchment basin cleaning, and shifts from road salt to liquid brine in winter. For example, in 2023, Brookline Department of Public Works collected more than 1,700 tons of material from streets and drains that otherwise would have ended up in our local rivers. Over the past decade, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission has identified and eliminated more than 25 “illicit connections” between the sanitary sewer system and the stormwater system, reducing sewage inputs specifically to the Muddy by more than 14,000 gallons per day. And DCR is currently in the process of repairing eight stormwater outfalls that discharge into the Muddy, an effort that will reduce erosion and allow for collection of solid material before it reaches the river. While the net effect of these efforts on overall river health has yet to be observed in reduced bacterial counts, they have had positive effects on other metrics of water quality. Our public agency employees are to be lauded for their enormous investment of time and money.

The City of Boston is continuing to assess the results of the Restoration Project by monitoring water quality quarterly at 13 key locations along the river, stretching from Ward’s Pond to Charlesgate. Results are preliminary, but early data suggest modest improvements in levels of chloride, nitrogen, and metals. Oil and grease pollution, which have occasionally bubbled up from long-buried sediments, are currently at undetectable levels. Only phosphorus and E. coli are consistently elevated above EPA standards. While these two pollutants are concerning—particularly bacteria, which is a key barrier to safe human contact with the water—the broader picture of river health offers some hope.

Local nonprofits also continue to play a critical role. In addition to their monthly monitoring program, CRWA is leading a community-wide visioning process for improving the health of the Muddy River watershed; public participation is strongly encouraged. Other organizations, including the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the Muddy Water Initiative, sponsor regular volunteer events that have made a dramatic difference to the appearance of the water. 

Finally, individual actions also play a critical role in improving the Muddy River’s water quality. Cleaning up after pets, using fertilizer responsibly, and avoiding feeding wild geese are simple ways to help. 

While it may take time for these collective efforts to significantly improve the Muddy’s EPA report card, the groundwork is being laid. I remain optimistic that the health of the Muddy River can improve in the coming years.