Watershed Stewardship

The twenty streams that wind through Lexington play important roles in our community, moving and cleaning water, providing wildlife habitat, creating wetlands, and serving as aesthetically pleasing places to visit. All twenty of these streams start within the bounds of Lexington and flow outward to other communities in three major watersheds--the Charles River Watershed, the Shawsheen River Watershed, and the Mystic River Watershed. As they flow through these urban areas, the streams face challenges from stormwater run-off and other factors.

Recently, Lexington's Conservation Division, Engineering Division. and a group of citizen volunteers have worked together to establish a Watershed Stewardship program to monitor and tend to the health of our streams. The program recruits volunteers to conduct observational stream surveys on all of Lexington's streams to develop a better understanding of the issues that affect their health and function.  Follow-up efforts to these surveys will include outreach and education, stream clean-ups, water quality monitoring, and communication with other entities involved with stream health and function.

Our pilot round of training and stream surveys on the Vine Brook and Willard's Brook took place in May, 2009 (read the report from this survey). The volunteers are now planning follow up actions, such as stream clean-up days, storm drain marker installation, and future surveys. If you'd like to volunteer or find out more, contact the Conservation Assistant or email us. 

Check out our report from the Vine Brook and Willard's Brook surveys>>

Check out the summary from the January Action Planning Workshop>>

Check out the Powerpoint presentation from our January Action Planning Meeting>>

Learn more about stormwater run-off>>

Clematis Brook running through Dunback Meadow conservation area