The Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) had a meeting at the Lynnfield Meeting House last Wednesday to discuss the state of the Ipswich River Watershed, one of the ten most endangered rivers in the country, according to IRWA President Ken MacNulty.
Serving the 21 different communities that encompass the river’s path, along with Salem and Lynn, which are completely out of the watershed but still use its water, Ipswich River is being threatened not by pollution like most endangered bodies of water but by overuse.
“By the time it gets towards the ocean, it’s almost pumped dry, depending upon the conditions. That’s why it’s in danger. It can’t sustain,” MacNulty said.
MacNulty introduced the room of around 50 people to IRWA Executive Director Erin Bonney Casey, who has been with the organization since 2022 and took her current position this summer.
Casey’s presentation gave a summary of the large net that the IRWA casts to achieve their ultimate goal of ensuring the survival of the Ipswich River for years to come.
“When we’re talking about restoring the river, what we’re really looking at is trying to restore function to the system,” Casey said. “In many cases, that means we’re trying to undo past harms that we’ve willingly or unwillingly inflicted on the river.”
One big victory the group achieved this past year was a successful ballot initiative to remove the Ipswich Mills Dam, with 58% approving the motion this past May, an action that will go right in the “restore bucket” of IRWA’s mission.
It also demonstrates success in gathering community support, which IRWA stresses as the most important aspect of saving the river. Considering that over 350,000 people drink from Ipswich River water, it is certainly an issue that locals want to get behind.
“I feel really passionate that this is a story we need to be telling, that there are people addressing these challenges in your communities,” Casey said. “They’re working at IRWA, they’re working in your town halls, they’re working in your state legislature. And I’m hoping that we can get more people excited about doing that work right here at home in our backyards.”
What makes this challenging is that every town and city has individual control over how they utilize their water sources, meaning organizing a solution where these communities depend less on the Ipswich River becomes difficult.
To respond to this need for collaboration, the North Shore Resiliency Task Force was formed to arrange the communities using the Ipswich River Watershed. Currently, the group is in an “information gathering” stage, and IRWA is serving as the ecosystem’s advocate.
Questions they are trying to answer include, “What are our water supply alternatives for reducing stress on the basin?” and “What are the impacts on ecosystem health of those water supply alternatives?”
To simplify it, there are two main solutions: communities can either take more water from the state’s supply at the Quabbin Reservoir or increase their reservoir storage capacity. Both would lessen the strain on the Ipswich River, but this means working with each local government.
“So, there’s a huge political component to this. The engineering problems are solvable; the political challenges are going to be daunting,” Casey said.
Adding to IRWA’s challenges is the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (MassDEP) outdated regulations that are actually out of line with federal regulations.
A lawsuit from IRWA elicited a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this past October that said MassDEP needs to do more to protect local waterways. Casey said she has yet to hear a response from the state level.
For now, IRWA will continue to focus on garnering support and spreading the word about what the Ipswich River provides for the community, especially as a spot for recreational fun. To that end, the organization is working with Lynnfield to open up Willis Woods so the public can get eyes on the waterway.
“We’re excited about the opportunities that this is going to provide for more river-based recreation,” Casey said. “We are the voice of the Ipswich river. We work to protect nature and make sure that there is enough clean water for people, fish, and wildlife today, for our children and theirs,”