Ipswich River’s Historic Future: Welcome Our New Environmental Planner

Patrick paddles Lago Lleu Lleu in southern Chile as one of several expeditions done with his outdoor sports collective, Bestias del Sur Salvaje. This lake was once rated as one of the most pristine lake in South America, but Patrick and his group picked up a ton of trash during their three days spent paddling and camping around the perimeter. Photo credit Jens Benöhr.

Imagine walking out of the house where you grew up, getting in a car, and driving to a place you’ve never been. Now imagine that unknown place is just twenty miles away. That’s what it was like the first time I visited the Ipswich River Watershed Association a few months ago.

For a suburban kid who grew up just outside Boston, it feels like I’m traveling to a different country, during a different era. Twenty minutes after leaving my house, I’m passing parks and fields with horses and family farms dating back to the 1600s. I don’t remember seeing any of this as a kid, or even learning about it in school.

Then there’s the river. It’s the same river I camped on as a kid, but thanks to the hard work of advocates up and down the river it is actually cleaner than it was thirty years ago. After spending a decade of my life working on water issues around the globe and seeing divisiveness and conflict almost everywhere, I am grateful to have grown up in a place where the towns came together. Here, even during a pandemic, you can still search for hope.

Today, the river may be cleaner but there are other pressing issues. Not enough water and less rainfall to replenish what’s being sucked up. These issues matter now, and they will persist long after we dig ourselves out of COVID-19. Right now, I’m sitting in my basement office while our Riverbend office is closed, and like all of you, am learning just how badly our communities need to become more resilient and more adaptive.

What if communities along the river organized to save their future? What if they were successful? Wouldn’t that be historic? I can imagine the sign our communities could proudly display, “Resilient Watershed Community: Established 2020.” 

I am grateful to join the Ipswich River Watershed Association as the next Environmental Planner. More and more, we are discovering that all aspects of our lives have something to do with the natural environment. If the global pandemic can teach us one thing, it’s that our idea of community has to change. Our obligations to each other do not end with town boundaries. We might feel more hopeful and take action if we felt like we were part of a larger team, one that pushes us to take the long-term view and wants that resilient future to become reality.

Last week, Dr. Elizabeth Sawin, a biologist from MIT and co-founder of Climate Interactive suggested that now is a good time “to try to find something small and tangible to do that fits with the future I want to live into.”

I hope my work can contribute to the growing number of voices that understand the only way we can have a more resilient society is to work together. The future of our region will be shaped by our ability to become more resilient, more communal. And despite all the chaos we’re seeing so far this year, I am confident we can build the types of coalitions we need to drive the hard work, and set an example for the rest of the country.