Belmont Group Hosting Forum About Stormwater Issues

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A citizens group in Belmont will host the event “The Trouble with Municipal Stormwater in Belmont: Challenges and What Everyone Can Do to Help,” which is open to people from all communities. 

The group sent out the following announcement:

“According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Belmont’s municipal stormwater system has been in “significant violation” of the Clean Water Act for the last three years, based on bacteria levels recorded at storm-drain outfalls. Belmont is currently the only municipality in Greater Boston under such a warning.” Boston Globe, 8/14/2015

What can we all do to learn more about stormwater issues in our town, and what we can all do to help? The Belmont Citizens Forum is holding a free, public, educational forum on stormwater called Water Trouble: A Neighbor-to-Neighbor Dialogue about Storms, Floods, and Water Quality, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 7-9 p.m., at Winn Brook School, 97 Waterhouse Road in Belmont, with these goals in mind. Registration starts at 6:45 p.m.

We are joining with our Arlington and Watertown neighbors to have a conversation about stormwater and how it affects our towns. Our panel of experts will discuss stormwater projects and issues relevant to all three towns, as well as green infrastructure, water quality and rivers, and infiltration strategies for urban soils.

Our expert panelists are:

  • Wayne Chouinard, Town Engineer, Town of Arlington
  • Ralph Jones, PhD, Town of Belmont former selectman, managing director, Cadmus Group
  • Matt Shuman, Town Engineer, Town of Watertown
  • Patrick Herron, Deputy Director, Mystic River Watershed Association
  • John Swallow, Principal and founder, Pine & Swallow Environmental
  • Julie Dyer Wood, Director of Projects, Charles River Watershed Association
  • Anne-Marie Lambert, BCF director and cofounder of the Belmont Stormwater Working Group, will facilitate the discussion.

We’d like to thank our Corporate Sponsors for supporting this event:

Platinum Level: Ideal Pavers; Gold Level: Watertown Savings Bank; Silver Level: 2 Rivers Realty; Ann Mahon Realty; Belmont Car Wash; Belmont Savings Bank; Cambridge Savings Bank; The Great American Rain Barrel Company; Lawndale Realty; The Loading Dock; Middlesex Savings Bank; Renaissance Realty; and Vintages.

Our community cosponsors include:

Arlington Land Trust, Arlington Tree Committee, Belmont Stormwater Working Group, Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands, Friends of Spy Pond Park, Massachusetts River Alliance, Mystic River Watershed Association, Spy Pond Committee of Arlington’s Vision 2020, Sustainable Arlington, Sustainable Watertown, Trees for Watertown, Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment. Some of these organizations will have educational tables at the Stormwater Forum.

Organizing Committee for Water Trouble Forum 2015: Anne-Marie Lambert, chair; Radha Iyengar, and Evanthia Malliris, BCF; Karen Grossman (Arlington), MyRWA director; and David Stokes (Watertown), member, Watertown Stormwater Advisory Committee.

For more information, visit www.belmontcitizensforum.org, or contact bcfprogramdirector@gmail.com.

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