Notice:
March 20, 2008
5 - 7:30pm
Sustainable Watersheds Workshop
Offered by: Massachusetts Watershed Coalition
at the Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster.
This free public workshop will provide guidance on the uses of low impact design and open space plans to protect and restore local streams, ponds and water supplies. Intended for watershed organizations, lake associations, land trusts, municipal officials, town planners, home builders, engineers and concerned citizens.
Pre-registration is requested: Contact Millers River Watershed Council at 978-248-9491 or
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MRWC
Millers River
Watershed Council, Inc.
100 Main Street, Athol, MA 01331
ph 978-248-9491
Email
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River Quote
“Rivers have what man most respects and longs for in his own life and thought – a capacity for renewal and replenishment, continual energy, creativity and cleansing.” – John M. Kauffman
Message from the President:
Greetings, neighbor. We have updated our Projects page. Find out about our water monitoring, educational and recreational activities. Get involved! We are more focused on collaborating with local municipalities and on obtaining high-quality water monitoring data. We’re also focusing more on the Otter River subwatershed, through our Otter River Initiative. We hope you find our ongoing efforts worthy of your support and we welcome your feedback.. Please make a donation today—We COUNT ON YOU!
For the Watershed David Brule, Erving
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Welcome
This site is maintained to provide you with information about the Council and the Millers River it protects.
The MWRC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, advocating, and organizing for the protection of the watershed's natural resources. The Council's primary concern is for the restoration and maintenance of clean water through the wise use and proper management of water and related natural resources in the Millers
River Watershed.
Our Council is made up of local citizens working to protect the Millers River water resources. It is part of a larger cooperative effort of agencies, both federal and state, and other conservation-minded organizations. Together we make decisions on water resource priority issues and then work collectively to resolve those issues.
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Millers River, (c) Paul Rezendes
Photo used by permission
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The Watershed: in Brief
• Source: Southern New Hampshire and North Central Massachusetts
• Total drainage area: 392 square miles, with 320 square miles in Massachusetts.
• Covers all or parts of 17 towns in north-central Massachusetts:
Ashburnham, Athol, Erving, Gardner, Hubbardston, Montague (Turners Falls), New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Templeton, Warwick, Wendell, Westminster, and Winchendon.
The Watershed also includes parts of six New Hampshire towns: Fitzwilliam, Jaffrey, New Ipswich, Rindge, Richmond, and Troy.
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Council History
The Millers River Watershed Council was formed in the middle of the last century after the color and smell of the Millers River varied on a daily basis. In the early 1960s, farmers started fencing their stock away from once clear drinking spots along the river. In the late 60s, at a meeting between a farmer and a University of Mass Dairy Extension agent at the confluence of the Millers and the Connecticut River, they decided to persuade two residents from each of the 17 watershed towns to meet and formulate an action plan to discover the cause and work towards a pollution solution. Uncertain of the sources of the problem, the group formed search parties to explore the watershed and, if and when sources were found, to lobby local and state officials to help them clean up the river. In this way, the Millers River Watershed Council had its beginning and by 1970 the group was incorporated as a nonprofit.
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Millers River Photo used by permission (c) Moss Brook Arts
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Today threats to the river still exist, but the source of the threat is more difficult to manage: hindered by dams and water withdrawal, natural flows are altered; preservation of groundwater is threatened by uncontrolled water use and development; development (including landfills) threatens sensitive aquifers, wetlands, and riverbanks; and the non-point sources of pollution threaten the quality of water and the aesthetics of the region. Poverty and joblessness present a major roadblock to action on these issues that face the river. Athol and Orange, at the heart of the watershed, are two of the ten poorest communities in the state. Outside sources of project support remain essential; we are a money poor but people and natural resource rich region.
We maintain a core of active members who support river monitoring activities, restoration projects, and political action in support of appropriate development and clean water. Current Council board members serve on area town boards, regional watershed and land protection boards, and the State-wide watershed coalition. Our membership in the River Network Partnership is also very important; it provides us with national support and information. This wider look at watershed protection helps us define our vision for the future- we want to be able to share the lessons learned on the Millers with others and adopt strategies that others have found to be successful.
Our current mission is to continue to protect the watershed and the river and to restore its natural flows and biodiversity. Our newer vision is to work collaboratively with other organizations in the region to protect land, educate residents concerning river stewardship, and to continue our volunteer advocacy and monitoring efforts. We currently have a membership of 100 with 25 active volunteers. Our organization is assisted by the staff of the Millers River Environmental Center, a building at 100 Main Street in downtown Athol
To report errors or problems
Email webmaster at
Site design and maintenance by
Moss Brook Arts
ICD
7,316 visits (9 today, 54 this week, 160 this
month, 1,230 this year)
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