Organization for the Assabet River

CONTACT:

23 Bradford Street P.O. Box 1116
Concord, MA 01742
(978) 369-3956
www.assabetriver.org

Alison Field-Juma, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote about the Assabet River that “A more lovely stream than this...has never flowed on earth.” Thoreau and Emerson admired it, too. Surprisingly beautiful, remote and unspoiled even today, last year the federal government protected a four-mile stretch of the river under its Wild and Scenic Rivers program.

Rising in Westborough, the Assabet flows north for 31 miles through Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, Stow, Hudson, Maynard, Acton, and into Concord where it joins the Sudbury River to form the Concord River, which then enhances quality of life in 12 more communities in a total watershed area of 178 sq. mi.

OAR was founded in 1986, in response to citizen concerns about odors and pollution. Its mission is to make the river “fishable and swimmable," and though substantial progress has been made, and 1,000 members are now registered, success is still some years away because the job is big and OAR is small (5 half-time employees). If you live within or near the watershed, OAR is helping you and needs your help. That’s philanthropy —private initiatives, public good, quality of life.

(2000: NATURE: Environment: Land, Air, Water, Climate)