Yearly Water Quality in Charles River Remains Good

As local residents eager to reestablish swimming in the Charles River held an annual swim event, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a grade of “B+” reflecting monitoring data that showed that during 2010, the Charles River continued to have acceptable water quality for boating and swimming. This progress is due to the intensive Clean Charles Initiative began in 1995.

EPA’s grade of B+ for the lower Charles River reflects the coordinated efforts by government and local groups which have had continuing success in reducing bacteria levels that make water quality safe for boaters and increasingly swimmers. However, despite the good progress reducing bacteria levels, there continues to be heightened concern about elevated levels of nutrients, especially phosphorus, in the Charles River. EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are working to address elevated nutrient levels.

"The long-term effort by EPA and many partners to improve water quality in our Charles River since 1995 is a great achievement and something we should all be proud of,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. “We are now addressing tougher pollution problems, most notably increased nutrient runoff and storm water pollution."

This year’s grade is based on the number of days the river met state boating and swimming standards on days that samples were taken during the previous calendar year, and is based on measurements of bacteria levels. For 2010, the Charles met boating standards 86% of the time, and swimming standards 66% of the time, according to data collected by the Charles River Watershed Association between Watertown Dam and Boston Harbor. The swimming percentage is the highest recorded since the EPA began grading the river in 1995.

The Charles has improved dramatically from the launch of EPA’s Charles River Initiative in 1995, when the river received a D for meeting boating standards only 39% of the time and swimming standards just 19% of the time.

"The clean-up of the Charles River has been a tremendous benefit to the region," said Bob Zimmerman, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association. "Everything we measure--from herring populations to real estate values to the number of river users--has improved since EPA initiated the Clean Charles Initiative in 1995. We still have work to do, but there is no doubt it's worth it."

Source: EPA