The advocacy work TRWA and other similar organizations do is heroic and essential to our future. You will be seeing more about TRWA’s environmental advocacy on the website and on our Facebook page this year. And we are asking for your help.
TRWA is off to a highly active 2021 start. Advocacy needs are vast, and TRWA always welcomes new and repeat volunteers who want to work indoors or outside. The more volunteers we have, the better we can do – and the better the environment will be.
Below are some of the recent things TRWA has done or has supported. If you have worked in conservation or in the environmental field we can always use a few more people even if it’s 2 just hours a month. We also need residents in any of our 43 towns to be a spotter for environmental news or attend meetings in the area.
Here is a sampling of TRWA’s support work:
On the web site Steve Silva, TRWA’s secretary and head of the Water Quality Monitoring program, has posted TRWA’s support for rapid approval of upgrading the Taunton Wastewater Treatment facility plus supporting documents. https://savethetaunton.org/2020/11/25/trwa-submits-comments-requesting-rapid-approval-of-taunton-wwtf-upgrade-plans
TWRA is strongly supporting the adoption of changes to the wastewater management act supported by Massachusetts Rivers Alliance to preserve water in the droughts we may experience more frequently. https://www.massriversalliance.org/post/dep-proposing-regulatory-changes-to-water-management-act-to-conserve-water-during-drought.
The next Water Management Stakeholder Group meeting is Thursday, February 25 at 1 PM, and is open to the public. We will keep you posted about this event. The current Massachusetts current drought management plan is here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/massachusetts-drought-management-plan/download
TRWA supported Bill H 4921 which was signed into law this January. This bill requires that cities and towns send notifications, at minimum, email or text alerts to residents and watershed groups (who have requested inclusion on notification lists) if sewage or industrial waste has been or is being discharged in their area.
TRWA works closely with many agencies and organizations including the Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Mass Division of Fish and Wildlife, Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD), Bristol County Agricultural School, Bridgewater University, Environmental Protection Agency – Region 1, MassDEP, Mass Audubon, Save the Bay, the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Wildlands Trust, the Nature Conservancy and Massachusetts Rivers Alliance. Working closely can involve attending meetings, writing letters of support, and in general supporting each other’s work.