We work to protect, restore, and enhance the Charles River and its watershed using science, advocacy, and the law by developing science-based strategies to increase resilience, protect public health, and promote environmental equity as we face a changing climate, together.

Charles River Watershed Association

Cheesecake Brook, a once meandering stream surrounded by wetlands, was filled, straightened, and channelized in the 1800s and 1900s. Today, the urbanized tributary, which flows from its headwaters near the Brae Burn Country Club, is culverted and buried beneath the Mass Pike, and emerges into a narrow masonry channel before entering the Charles River. 

Since 2020, CRWA has partnered with the City of Newton to work towards a community vision of a restored urban stream by addressing urban drainage challenges and improving riparian habitat. In 2024, Massachusetts funded the installation of nature-based project elements, including a stormwater infiltration basin and about an acre of restored bank plantings.

Cheesecake Brook 1

Cheesecake Brook 2

The Charles River Dam at South Natick is an earthen dam and concrete spillway on the Charles River in Natick, MA. A historic mill dam, the present-day dam was rebuilt in 1934 after the previous dam was destroyed in a 1929 flood. The structure was rated in "poor condition", served no purpose for power or flood control, and impeded migratory fish passage, effectively degrading the river ecosystem.

 In 2022, the Natick Select Board Voted in favor to remove the spillway and restore the river. Spillway removal will preserve the vital mature trees, which improve air and water quality, reduce heat island impacts, and mitigate flooding, and offer the chance to restore the river ecosystem, and provide the numerous benefits of a free-flowing river to wildlife and residents alike.

Dam removal is planned for summer 2026. This view is of the dam's upstream impoundment, an unnatural bulge in the Charles River, which is expected to change following dam removal. Join us in watching this area transform back into a free-flowing river bordered by vegetated wetlands! 

S. Natick Dam

We are monitoring the 180-ft long, 8-ft high aging concrete weir structure located in the Charles River in Watertown, currently owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)Watertown Dam was originally constructed to power industry, yet now holds no purpose for power or flood control. CRWA advocates for the removal of the Watertown Dam to improve fish passage, restore biodiversity, enhance water quality, and avoid dam failure. 

Charles River Watershed Association

Massachusetts

4 chronologs managed by Charles River Watershed Association

Watertown Dam

Cheesecake Brook 2

S. Natick Dam

Cheesecake Brook 1

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