News, events, and updates you Otter know from OARS. | |
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CARING COMMUNITY
that appreciates and protects our rivers through OARS
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On November 27, we kicked off our 3 Rivers Campaign to raise $100,000 to put to work on our rivers, and we are so grateful to each of you who has made a gift, however big or small, so far. Our campaign is off to a great start! But we still have a long way to go to meet our goal! | |
WILL YOU HELP ENSURE THE HEALTH & RESILIENCE OF OUR 3 RIVERS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS BY GIVING A YEAR-END GIFT TODAY? | |
HEALTHY RIVERS
supporting wildlife and our communities
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Inaugural Eastern Mass. Coalition Water Conference | |
Photo: Organizers from watershed organizations for the SuAsCo, Neponset, Charles, Mystic, Nashua, and North and South Rivers, Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research, and Lake Archer Association, and other participants. | |
Ben Wetherill, OARS' water quality scientist, helped organize and presented at the inaugural Eastern Mass. Coalition Water Conference in Westborough. The conference included a workshop on the MassWateR tool, presentations on cyanobacteria, bacteria, and nutrient monitoring, and findings from conductivity/chloride studies, followed by a roundtable discussion on water science methods and findings. Ben presented on our 2022–2023 conductivity/chloride study, for which we deployed conductivity loggers in two streams for 3-month periods over summer and winter. A report on this study will be coming soon. The conference, funded by Mass DEP, was a great success, and all agree it should be repeated next year. | | |
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On Nov. 15, a tanker truck accident on Rte. 3 in Billerica released some 9,300 gallons of gasoline and 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel, plus a large quantity of AFFF fire-fighting foam used to prevent combustion. Despite a rapid response to contain and clean up the spill, some of the contamination has sunk into the ground in the Billerica State Forest, where it may enter the wetland and headwaters of River Meadow Brook and possibly the Concord River. Monitoring wells will be installed, and continued cleanup will likely be needed over months, if not years, to deal with contamination by fuel and PFAS. We are grateful to the Billerica crews, who kept a dangerous situation from worsening. | | |
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As the temperatures dip and the ice starts to form, roads white with salt again become a common sight. While salting roads makes winter travel in New England safer and easier, too much salt in wells, rivers, and streams is toxic humans and wildlife.
But, what are the alternatives to this salty habit?
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“On the Road with Salt” explores the town of Franklin’s efforts to balance using salt to keep roads safe from ice with providing safe, salt-free drinking water to the residents. This new 8-minute film tackles the challenge of rising public expectations and the impact of salt on our water resources. Produced by TURNAROUND Films, a local studio documenting innovative solutions to our changing environment. | | |
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Dam Busters Webinar 3—Community Engagement
Jan 10 | 12PM to 1PM | Virtual
Learn about the best practices for gathering community support for dam removal from effective outreach to involving leadership to making compelling economic and public safety appeals.
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Stocking the Rivers with Trout
View at your leisure | Online Resource
Each year, Concord Outfitters and OARS collaborate on fish stocking. In 2023, this collaboration added 600 pounds of trout to the Assabet River. In addition, Mass Wildlife stocks about 500,000 brook, brown, rainbow, and tiger trout annually statewide. Right now, hatchery staff are busy cultivating the next generation of trout ready for the 2024 fish stocking.
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