On August 10th TRWA restarted it’s watershed monitoring program after a one year, four month pause due to the Covid 19 pandemic. We paused the program in 2020 to keep our sampling volunteers and our partners at the Taunton wastewater treatment plant safe. Now that our volunteers have had the opportunity to get fully vaccinated we restarted the program. Our volunteers wear masks when dropping off samples at the WWTP lab.

We held our annual training event outside at our Sweets Knoll State Park River Center on the last Saturday morning the month before our sampling program resumed. We have … Continue reading →

Steve Silva is our Volunteer of the month for February. A retired Water Quality Director for the EPA, his passion at TRWA is to raise the water quality in the Watershed to higher and higher standards.

Joe Callahan TRWA president says, “Steve Silva is a tremendous asset and addition to the TRWA organization. He stepped in immediately to assume leadership role … Continue reading →

Priscilla Chapman, longtime TRWA board member and watershed advocate is TRWA’s December volunteer of the month. She completed her two-year term as the president of TRWA in November with a surprise bouquet of flowers and thank you’s from the board. As one of her last presidential duties she conducted TRWA’s annual meeting via Zoom, a major accomplishment. Participating via Zoom was a major achievement to some of TRWA’s members too. Priscilla will … Continue reading →

When you think about Joe, you think of the word steady.

Joe Callahan, TRWA’s incoming president and past president, knows a thing or two about water.

Recreationally, he has done white water rafting, hiking, kayaking and trout fishing here and in the Grand Tetons, the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.  

Study and analysis of water became his career. He is an avid volunteer for its protection.

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Carol Traverse is TRWA’s lynchpin.She is the volunteer office manager. She has been with TRWA for fifteen years, and she is the person everyone turns to answer questions. “Carol, what do you think?” “Carol, do you remember when……?” “Carol, do you know what we did with…………?” And she either knows the answer or, in her patient way, helps to find it.She is quiet about her work and her achievements. There is no … Continue reading →

Jen O’Keefe is a TRWA backbone volunteer.

Like so many others she joined because of one activity and then went on to others. In each, she is passing on her environmental passion and skills to children and young people who must have them to protect our future.

She says, “I joined the TRWA because I went on four or five kayak trips run by Canoe Passage Outfitters and after the 4th or 5th realized, “Hey these people like the same things I do. They have the same values I have and do work I like to see done, let’s join.

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We asked our Board members and a few volunteers to tell us why they joined TRWA. Our first volunteer is Dick Shafer.

“I attended the initial TRWA organizational meeting in 1988 led by Bill Napolitano, Kitty Doherty and others.

I joined that night as one of the founding members and have been a member ever since. I had just acquired a canoe and was interested in river trips,” says Dick Shafer, … Continue reading →

Finally! A river that looks like it’s not going to put me under. You always want to do the Snake River at high water and now looks like the perfect opportunity. I can’t wait to give it a try.

I’ll be posting more locations over the next few days. Stay tuned.

~Monica Bentley
TRWA River Guide

The Taunton River at Summer Street seems pretty tame compared to some of the other put-ins I’ve checked out in the past couple weeks. Don’t get me wrong, there is a fairly strong current and you should be prepared to work if you go downstream and want to come back up. Just be aware that further downstream the little flurry of quickwater at the Titicut St bridge isn’t just a little flurry any more. It’s a class 3 right now so wear your helmet and wetsuit!

I’ll be posting more locations over the next few days. Stay tuned.

~Monica … Continue reading →

This is one of my favorite put-ins for a group trip. Usually there is 6-8ft of beach and wide enough to fit 12-15 kayaks easily. This week, there’s no beach … and the water is really moving. What’s usually a little flurry under the bridge might be now classified as a class 3 rapid. Be aware of this spot should you decide to put in at Summer St on the Taunton, Murdoch St on the Nemasket or anywhere further up the Nemasket River.

If you want to see the video to see how fast it’s moving click here.

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