Alliance Members

Back Bay Watershed Association
Eel River Watershed Association
Herring Ponds Watershed Association
Jones River Watershed Association
Neponset River Watershed Association
North and South Rivers Watershed Association
Pembroke Watershed Association
Save the Bay: Narragansett Bay
Six Ponds Improvement Association
Taunton River Watershed Association
Weir River Watershed Association
Westport River Watershed Alliance

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Our Visit to the Neponset Watershed

Our Blogger today is Shalen Lowell

Last Wednesday Dorie and I had the pleasure of touring the Neponset Watershed with Tom Palmer of the Neponset River Watershed Association. This watershed encompasses the towns of Canton and Norwood, as well as parts of Sharon, Foxborough, Stoughton, Walpole, Medfield, Dover, Randolph, Westwood, Dedham, Quincy, and Boston. Its highest point is the summit of Blue Hill in Canton at 636 feet.

One of our first stops was Fowl Meadow (see picture on left) near Great Blue Hill. This broad floodplain reaches eight miles upstream to Walpole alongside Rt 95 and absorbs a tremendous amount of water during storms, thus preventing flooding in crowded areas downstream. At one time, the meadow had been intended to be filled for housing and industrial development. Thankfully, it remains a natural space and a satisfying reminder of how much healthier our environment would be in the absence of suburban expansion.

As we headed downstream, we noticed a disturbing trend: the Neponset is often barred from sight by shopping centers and their parking lots. We ventured near one Stop and Shop, which boasted a six-foot high fence separating the lot from the trees that line the riverbank. Before extensive cleanup, the river used to be full of stagnant sewage, and people saw fit to conceal it. But now that the Neponset is relatively clear and much improved, its banks should be opened for people to enjoy. Frequently, the very people that live along the river know little about it, thanks to the thickets and fences that hide it from view.

We also noted that the parking lot was graded to allow runoff to flow straight off the pavement and into the river, and that several catchbasins discharged to it directly through pipes.  When development reaches to the top of the bank, extra work is required to filter stormwater. 

Near this particular site are the remains of a gutted paper mill and its still-standing dam. This dam is not in use, and the river pours through rusty holes in its decrepit gates. The dam should be demolished: it accomplishes nothing, and it prohibits fish from migrating upstream to spawn.

A few miles beyond we visited a second dam just above the Adams St. Bridge in Lower Mills between Milton and Boston. This one likewise has outlived its usefulness as the surrounding factories have been converted to condos. Eight feet high, it blocks ocean-run shad, herring, and smelt from entering the river. Restoring the Neponset will require removing both dams.

At the base of the lower dam the Neponset estuary begins. Below here the river widened, and I began to smell salt water, a sense which triggers nostalgia for my childhood summers spent sea-side.

We followed the estuary’s southern edge another five miles to Squantum Point Park in Quincy, where the Neponset empties into Dorchester Bay opposite the gas tank on the Southeast Expressway. This park, once a Navy airfield, is the result of one of the many initiatives to encourage outside recreation in the Neponset corridor. NepRWA is working to connect it via walking paths to the marshes upstream and to Wollaston Beach.


This overview is a mere small sample of our Neponset experience. These areas are best appreciated and enjoyed when encountered in person, and I encourage you to visit this stunning area and experience its plentiful beauty on your own! One way to do this is to go canoeing or hiking with the Neponset River Watershed Association. To visit their website, please see http://www.neponset.org/.

Click the links below to read more about Squantum Point and the Neponset River Trail.



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