Nashua River Watershed Association - Current Projects

NRWA Protecting Coldwater Fish: Locating Refugia

2020-11-02T17:38:38-05:00

NRWA Protecting Coldwater Fish: Locating Refugia

The Nashua River Watershed Association is grateful to receive a Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) grant of $16,000 to install twelve to fifteen temperature dataloggers in Coldwater Fish Resource (CFR) streams. MA Fish & Wildlife defines CFRs as “a waterbody (stream, river, or tributary thereto) used by reproducing coldwater fish to meet one or more of their life history requirements. CFRs are particularly sensitive habitats. Changes in land and water use can reduce the ability of these waters to support trout and other kinds of coldwater fish.”

The Nashua River watershed is fortunate to have a number of high quality CFRs within its river system, including the Nissitissit, Quinapoxet, Squannacook, and Stillwater Rivers, as well as their headwater tributaries, and some of the smaller direct tributaries to the Nashua River. The loggers will be installed in streams in the towns of Ashby, Dunstable, Groton, Lunenburg, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend.

Continuously logged temperature data will help identify where climate-change “refugia” exist for coldwater-dependent fish species, as temperatures rise 2˚C, 4˚C, and 6˚C. The effort is part of a larger project (ecosheds.org) that models where fish may go to survive in Massachusetts streams as in-stream temperatures rise.

Partners in this effort are the Squan-a-Tissit Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife). Volunteers will help conduct quality control checks near the loggers once each month during the warmer summer months.

MET funding will also support a series of webinars highlighting scientific investigations on-going in the Nashua River watershed. Look for announcements about the webinars to come this winter.

MET is funded through the sales of its specialty license plates, such as their signature Whale Plate. The standard registration fee for a Massachusetts plate is $60.00. The special plate fee is an additional $40.00 (tax-deductible every two years) for a total cost of $100. When you purchase a specialty plate from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the $40 specialty plate fee goes directly to the Trust to fund water-focused environmental programs. To order a specialty plate, visit your local Registry of Motor Vehicles online at www.massrmv.com or www.whaleplate.org. To learn more about MET, visit www.mass.gov/eea/met.

Photo banner (left to right): NRWA Water Monitoring Coordinator, Kathryn Nelson (far right), working with Squan-a-Tissit Chapter of Trout Unlimited members Michael Rosser and David Armstrong to install a temperature logger in the Nissitissit River, photo by Martha Morgan; Kathryn Nelson on Mulpus Brook using a meter to read stream water temperatures to look for cold locations that could serve as refugia for fish, photo by Martha Morgan; Native brook trout found in local stream, photo by Russ Schott; NRWA Water Programs Director, Martha Morgan (right), and Rebecca M. Quiñones, Ph.D. (left), Rivers and Streams Project Leader for MassWildlife, installing a datalogger on Unkety Brook in Dunstable, photo by Kathryn Nelson.

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Culvert Assessment for Wildlife Passage and Climate Resiliency

2018-06-18T15:28:25-04:00

Culvert Assessment for Wildlife Passage and Climate Resiliency

NRWA staff attended Massachusetts Road Stream Crossings Survey Training in August 2016 offered by the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), in collaboration with the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). Upon receiving NAACC certification, NRWA staff conducted field work to assess 120 road stream crossings in Ashby, Groton, Fitchburg, Pepperell, Shirley and Townsend. Culvert assessment information can be used by communities to identify high priority bridges and culverts for upgrades and replacements. Benefits include improved aquatic/terrestrial animal passage and storm hazard reduction. The NAACC database is available at www.streamcontinuity.org/cdb2.

This project was funded by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) Drive for a Better Environment (DFBE) Grants Program.

"Tick Talk": Preventing Tick Bites and Tick-borne Diseases

2017-06-01T15:28:25-04:00

"Tick Talk": Preventing Tick Bites and Tick-borne Diseases
with Links to "Tick Talk" Video Presentations

As we head outdoors to hike in the woods and fields, or to work and play in our yards, we need to be aware of the presence of ticks, at all times of year when the temperature is above freezing. Ticks like damp, shady, leafy areas, where they can wait for a person or an animal to come into direct contact with them. That contact can lead to a tick bite, and tick bites can lead to a number of serious diseases, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Powassan, and Lyme. What can you do to protect yourself and your pets while enjoying the outdoors?

1. Learn about the life cycle of ticks, their habitat, and the symptoms of tick-borne diseases

2. Protect yourself from tick bites by wearing light-colored long pants, long sleeve shirts, and a hat when outdoors; tuck your pants into your socks

3. Consider using an insect repellent containing DEET

4. Always check yourself (and your pets) for ticks after being outdoors, even in your own yard

5. Reduce tick habitat by keeping your lawn cut short, and by clearing brush and leaf litter from around your home

6. If you’ve been bitten, remove the tick as soon as possible, wash the area, and make a note of the location of the bite and the date in case you develop symptoms; you can save the tick for identification; consider calling your physician. Learn more at MA Public Health’s Tick Disease webpage.

For the past several years, the NRWA has been working on a project to help the public become more informed about tick bite and tick-borne disease prevention, sponsoring numerous "Tick Talks" in watershed communities. These talks have featured panels of experts on ticks and tick-borne disease including public health officials, physicians, and veterinarians.

If you were unable to attend one of these "Tick Talks", you may wish to view one of these videos of recent presentations. (Please note, the basic presentation by Dr. Katie Brown from the MA Dept. of Public Health is generally redundant in these videos, although open discussion may vary, as does the material provided by additional speakers.)

"Tick Talk" in Bolton, MA on August, 23, 2016 with Dr. Katie Brown, MA Dept. of Public Health, and Dr. Michelle Bianco, DVM, Mid-State Mobile Veterinary Clinic. General discussion of tick life cycle, tick bite and tick-borne disease prevention for humans and pets.

"Tick Talk: Lyme Legislative Forum" in Harvard, MA on October 18, 2016 with Senator Jamie Eldridge, co-sponsor of the Lyme treatment coverage mandate; Sheila M. Statlender, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist, member of the MA Lyme Disease Legislative Task Force and former “Special Commission to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Incidence and Impacts of Lyme Disease”; and Donna Castle, Lyme Disease Advocate, and member of the MA Lyme Disease Legislative Task Force. Special focus on newly legislated Massachusetts healthcare mandate requiring insurance companies to cover longer term antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease. Co-sponsored by the MA Lyme Disease Legislative Task Force.

"Tick Talk: Horses and Lyme Disease" in Pepperell, MA on March 21, 2017 with Dr. Katie Brown, MA Dept. of Public Health, and Dr. Kerri Mitton, DVM in Shirley MA. General discussion of tick life cycle, tick bite and tick-borne disease prevention for humans and pets with specialist on horses and Lyme disease. Co-sponsored by the Pepperell Board of Health.

"Tick Talk" in Harvard, MA on May 2, 2017 with Dr. Katie Brown, MA Dept. of Public Health. General discussion of tick life cycle, tick bite and tick-borne disease prevention for humans and pets. Co-sponsored by the Harvard Board of Health, Harvard Conservation Commission.

The NRWA’s participation is funded in part by a grant from the Nashoba Valley Healthcare Fund, managed by the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts and the Greater Lowell Community Foundation.

Be informed and be tick smart so you can enjoy our great outdoors!

Invasive Water Chestnuts Discovered in Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

2015-08-18T16:10:13-04:00

Invasive Water Chestnuts Discovered in Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

Nashua River Watershed Association (NRWA) staff members have discovered and removed patches of invasive water chestnuts in the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge reach of the Nashua River. The aquatic invasive plant, while present in the Pepperell, MA and Nashua, NH reaches of the Nashua River, has not previously been found near the Oxbow NWR. The annual plant (not the same as the water chestnut in Asian foods), grows at an alarming rate to take over vast areas of slow-moving rivers, lakes, and ponds in just a few years.

Martha Morgan, NRWA’s Water Programs Director, stated that “it’s disheartening to know the plants exist in a part of the river where we haven’t seen them before, but the good news is they can be removed easily by hand. The key is to get them out as soon as they are found.”

Water chestnuts are known to exist in two other areas of the Nashua River. The 80+ acres of water chestnuts in the Pepperell Pond impoundment of the Nashua River need to be controlled by mechanical harvesting or other means. The City of Nashua paid for mechanical harvesting of a 14-acre infestation in Nashua, and that, combined with extensive volunteer efforts, has reduced the population of water chestnuts there to scattered plants removable by just hand-pulling efforts.

The NRWA asks boaters to please remove any water chestnut plants they see, and dispose of them away from the water. Every plant removed prevents the development of potentially hundreds of plants the next year. L earn more about water chestnuts and what they look like.

In addition to scouting for invasive plants, NRWA is monitoring bacteria levels at three sites on the Nashua River and a tributary in Harvard on a weekly basis in July and August. “We have been pleased to see bacteria levels stay within state standards for swimming or boating for these sites with the exception of times when it rained hard the day of monitoring, or the previous day,” Morgan said. “The weekly monitoring gives us a much better picture of how clean the water is during the summer months and how heavy rainfall can wash pollutants into the water.” View data from July and August monitoring.

“Our weekly monitoring in Harvard was conducted by our interns, Brianna Harte from Harvard and Anthony Sisti from Pepperell. Both were looking to gain experience in the environmental field,” says Kathryn Nelson, Water Monitoring Coordinator. “After orientation and training, they have been collecting samples and data as well as running the bacteria tests each week. This has given them practical hands on experience while helping the project tremendously.”

This monitoring for aquatic invasive plants and bacteria levels in Harvard and the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, together with public outreach, is part of NRWA’s “Protecting Our Waterways: Aquatic Invasive Surveys and Bacterial Testing in Harvard and the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge” project that is funded in part by a grant from the Foundation for MetroWest.

Established in 1995, the Foundation for MetroWest is the only community foundation serving the 33 cities and towns in the MetroWest region, connecting the philanthropic interests of donors with demonstrated need in the areas of Family Support, Arts & Culture, Environment and Youth Development. The Foundation has granted over $9 million to charitable organizations and currently stewards more than $15 million in charitable assets for current needs and future impact. Learn more about the Foundation for MetroWest.

For more information about water chestnuts or this project, please contact Martha Morgan at (978) 448-0299, or email MarthaM@NashuaRiverWatershed.org.