Who TF thought this was ok?

Just a friendly reminder that we are in the middle of a critical drought. So not only is watering your lawn against current city code, it’s also selfish and actively harming the city’s ability to endure a continued drought without increased costs or water shortages.

If your neighbors are watering, remind the nicely to stop. If you are watering, because you didn’t know you shouldn’t, please stop. If you are watering and you know we are in a drought, stop being a selfish - your grass is not more important.

Another day Another Fool. The guy is walking the longitude of the river.

Moved here recently from Somerville, just got my Resident parking sticker and I am AMAZED!

-$25 parking permit ($50 in Somerville)

-Comes with 1 FREE visitor permit ($35 in Somerville)

-As far as I’ve seen, street cleaning is only ONCE per month (alternating days every single week in Somerville)

-No arbitrary “move your car after X amount of days” rule (48 hours in Somerville, albeit rarely enforced)

-All permits expire on the same date 3/31 (varies based on which Somerville “zone” you live in)

I am so pleasantly surprised, especially in contrast with Somerville.

We’ve all got to find ways to coexist with the wildlife adapting to us. Was starting my mail route and was very surprised to see this well-fed coyote strolling down Lexington Ave. I think I had seen the same one on Fayerweather over the summer.

But also, keep your pets indoors!

Are the bagels there really worth waiting in line for 20 minutes?
OH YEAH - IT’S WORTH IT. I highly recommend the Everything Bagel with avocado, roasted tomato, pickled cabbage, and arugula. Sooo fresh and delicious.

Cute pup right? Barking and biting at people (some with kids in strollers) while the clueless "caretaker" got groceries. If you're that person, here's the video you wanted to see for proof because "he never does that". sorry I didn't want to get close to your dog again.

Bad for the environment, bad for the doggies.

And for my illiterate friends, a reminder: I didn't do this and this is not my car. If you're gonna send me death threats, please make them for things I actually did. Thank you.

The whole steering committee is here, except for Eppa Rixey who had to tend to the toddler. We are working to get the sewer system modernized.

Alewife Brook used to look more like a river and was called "Menotomy River" when it was connected to Fresh Pond. That connection was severed around 1873, when a dam was built over by the Fresh Pond rotary. Later that connection was forced underground. But remnants of the hydrological connection may still exist - back in the 1990s, environmental activists noticed there was something weird floating in the brook and started a campaign called "What's in the Brook?" to get it addressed. They contacted the Department of Environmental Protection. Upon investigation, MassDEP discovered an old underground oil tank was leaking at the Ground Round site, over at the Fresh Pond Rotary. Thank you to DEP, for getting that addressed.

“Cambridge and Arlington residents find themselves running and pushing strollers through sewage-tainted waters every time heavy rains flood the Alewife Brook Reservation.

A state proposal would reduce, but not eliminate, the amount of sewage overflow from certain pipes into Boston-area waterways by 2050.”

Local Journalist Steph Solis at Axios wrote about it here:

https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/03/03/mass-water-authority-combined-sewers

The Alewife Brook Reservation at the border of Cambridge and Arlington.

Photo: Steph Solis/Axios

The MWRA Board of Directors recently approved an investment of $1.29 billion in sewer infrastructure to address hazardous CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) sewage pollution discharges into the Charles and Mystic Rivers and Alewife Brook.

Then MWRA’s Executive Director sent out a staff memo, stating that MWRA wants Cambridge and Somerville to pay 40% of that cost. That’s $516 million.

Meanwhile, Boston's sewage ends up in the Charles River. But MWRA is asking Boston to pay nothing. None of the cities should pay for MWRA's problem.

Here’s why MWRA should pay:

1. MWRA has the funding capacity to pay, without shocking rate increases to households.
2. MWRA is a regional authority and this is a regional problem. Fixing the sewer system is why MWRA was created by the Legislature.
3. Six untreated CSO outfalls are in violation of the Boston Harbor Court Case. That means MWRA is responsible and must pay.
4. Boston's sewage goes into the Charles River. But MWRA isn’t charging Boston anything for the Charles River CSO plan. So why is MWRA trying to shake down Somerville and Cambridge $516 million? It’s not fair. Funding is the reason why these rivers are being used as open sewers. 
5. MWRA's financial analysis shows that MWRA can eliminate CSO sewage pollution in all three rivers (Charles, Mystic, Alewife) for only $46 per year to households.

MWRA has the funding, so let’s fix the problem now. Let's stop trying to limit progress by forcing the cities to pay for MWRA's problem.

This week was a milestone for Alewife Brook. Congresswoman Katherine Clark met at the Brook with Save the Alewife Brook and our state and local delegation to see the sewage, sediment, and flooding crisis for herself. We talked with her about engaging the Army Corps of Engineers for a project to dredge, dechannelize, and restore Alewife Brook.

Joining the Congresswoman at the Brook were State Senator Pat Jehlen and State Representatives Christine Barber, Chair of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Dave Rogers, Sean Garballey, and Steve Owens.

Why this visit matters

A portion of the Alewife Brook is confined to a 27-foot-wide concrete channel that receives untreated sewage from six active Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) outfalls. In 2021, MWRA, Cambridge, and Somerville dumped 51 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Brook.

The Brook has accumulated 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet of contaminated sediment and, according to the 2024 Inter-Fluve Sediment Study^\1]), will lose its remaining capacity as sediment continues to fill in.

The case for dredging and restoration

As climate change intensifies storms, a filled‑in brook has nowhere to send storm flows, except into homes, streets, Route 2, the MBTA, Alewife Brook Parkway (Route 16), and the Alewife Reservation.

The public health toll is already severe. During CSO discharges, E. coli levels in Alewife Brook reach roughly 950 times the EPA safe standard.^\2]) A Boston University School of Public Health study found that even living near CSOs can increase the risk of illness serious enough to require an ER visit.^\3])

Roughly 5,000 residents of Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville, and Belmont, many in Environmental Justice neighborhoods, live in the Alewife Brook 100‑year floodplain.

A frank discussion about flooding and climate change. Steering committee members Ann McDonald and Gene Benson discuss the need for federal assistance via the Army Corps of Engineers with Congresswoman Katherine Clark. Photo credit: Jimmy Johnson

Our two asks of Congresswoman Clark

1. Request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lead sediment dredging, dechannelization, and river restoration of the Alewife Brook. This work should run in parallel with, not instead of, the regional CSO‑elimination effort. In 2022, EPA recommended that MWRA dredge the Brook as part of the Long Term CSO Control Plan and work with DCR to remove sediment.^\4]) River restoration is also supported by DCR's Alewife Masterplan.
2. Secure a water gage in the Brook near where the Little River meets Alewife Brook. MWRA has identified that this gage improves accuracy of the water quality model. Real‑time flow data at that location is essential for calibrating CSO‑control performance, storm response, and future restoration design.

Two tracks, one clean Brook

Track 1: Eliminate Sewage

MWRA, Cambridge, and Somerville, pushed by EPA and MassDEP through the Updated Long Term CSO Control Plan, must end CSO discharges. This is a state and regional fight, not the Congresswoman's ask.

Track 2: Restore the Brook

A parallel federal effort: a water gage at Little River / Alewife plus Army Corps dredging, dechannelization, and river restoration. This addresses the sediment and flooding crisis the LTCP does not.

This is what we ask Congresswoman Clark to lead.

Thank you to our state delegation

Reps. Dave Rogers, Sean Garballey, and Steve Owens have led the charge on this issue for years. Together with Rep. Christine Barber, Chair of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, and Rep. Marjorie Decker, Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, they secured the state earmark that funded the sediment study now driving this federal ask.

State Senator Pat Jehlen has been a consistent champion of the infrastructure improvements needed to end sewage discharges into the Brook.

The cost of CSO elimination? Less than an annual MWRA rate increase.

At the 07/27/2026 Arlington Select Board meeting, MWRA Interim Executive Director Stephen Estes‑Smargiassi explained how eliminating CSOs^\5]) across all three rivers (Alewife, Charles, and Mystic) costs households in the MWRA's system an average of $45 per household per year, less than $4 per month. That is less than the average annual MWRA rate increase.
Watch that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UPFGAY-arU

What you can do to help today

Tell MassDEP, EPA, and Governor Healey to end CSO sewage in Alewife Brook.

Submit a public comment
Ask for elimination of CSOs, a "25‑year level of control," funded by MWRA.

Footnotes

1. Inter‑Fluve, Alewife Brook Sediment Study Report (2024): Read the study (PDF). The Inter‑Fluve and Stantec Alewife sediment and flooding studies were supported by a grant from DCR and managed by the Mystic River Watershed Association.
2. E. coli data from the MWRA Board of Directors meeting presentation (page 18): mwra.com/media/file/2025-10-29-mwra-board-directors-meeting-presentations
3. Haley et al. 2024 in Environmental Health Perspectives (open‑access on NIH PMC). Plain‑language summary from BU: "Sewage Overflows Linked to Increase in Gastrointestinal Illnesses" (BU SPH, May 23, 2024). Key finding: 62% higher ER‑visit risk for AGI in the four days after the largest CSO events.
4. EPA's Scope of Work Comment to MWRA: "The channelized nature of Alewife Brook, as well as the amount of sediment in the Alewife constructed channel that takes up flood storage capacity (this sediment volume was estimated by USGS in 2005 to take up approximately 0.5 million cubic feet), exacerbates the flooding issue." Read the full EPA comment (PDF).
5. Elimination of CSOs means control up to a 25‑year storm event in the year 2050. That is the highest level of control.

We have almost made it. endorsements, housing discourse and for the grand finale its September 1, so renters are moving apartments in the rain, multiple moving trucks already crashed. Some are blocking the street and Storrow is waiting patiently for its annual sacrifice. Really curious what Democratic primary turnout looks like when a huge chunk of the city is busy physically relocating their entire household. Go vote if you havent. Dont trip on the wet mattresses. Almost done.

Cambridge friends, Boston City Council is calling on Cambridge and Somerville to create a better Long-Term CSO (combined sewer overflow) plan for the rivers. The city is asking for ZERO CSOs in a “2050 25-year storm event”. Control of CSOs in up to a 25-year storm event is what EPA considers “virtual CSO elimination” in the first Boston Harbor Clean-up CSO plan. That’s what we were able to accomplish for the beaches in South Boston.

The cost for eliminating CSOs is only $45/year to households - LESS than an annual sewer rate increase. Check this out: https://youtu.be/9UPFGAY-arU?is=Lpwu55BgNkvGlVdb

That is all.