Watertown Awarded Grant For Clean Water Project

Watertown is being rewarded for its efforts to try to protect the environment

The town was recently awarded a $41,000 environmental protection grant to help reduce contaminants in storm water runoff into the Charles River.

According to a release from the Watertown Department of Public Works, Watertown was awarded the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection grant to fund various projects and techniques to improve the quality of water.

With the grant, the town hopes to improve and install green infrastructure including using vegetation, soils, and other natural elements to reduce the amount of stormwater and stormwater pollutants.

Town engineer Matt Shuman said unlike Watertown’s sewage, the stormwater runoff you see on our roads, parking lots, and roofs, does not go to a treatment plant like Deer Island.

Watertown’s Department of Public Works (DPW) is leading the project, with support from the Department of Community Development and Planning (DCDP) and the Stormwater Advisory Committee (SAC).

This project is one of only five in Massachusetts that were selected this year to conduct watershed pollution assessment and planning work to address water quality impairments in local water bodies. The grants are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through Section 604b of the federal Clean Water Act.

Town officials will be building a database to keep track of Watertown’s green infrastructure features on both public and private property, in new developments, and along the streets.