Sandy Rubchinuk is a River Warden and the President of the Middleton Stream Team, giving her lots of experience in maintaining river stretches and landings. Here, she works on a blowdown just below Route 1.
The River Warden volunteers are stewards of the Ipswich River Water Trail. Each month they assess the state of the Water Trail, making sure that the river is safe for paddlers and that both river and landings are in good condition. The River Wardens are river enthusiasts, so often they are out on the river every week! That makes them, along the River Watch monitors, our eyes and ears on the river.
This spring, a large tree in the river just below Route 1 caused a hazardous obstruction for paddlers. River Wardens Dan Heiter, Dean Baumeister, Russ Liebe, and Newbury Kayak & Canoe’s Keith Attenborough assess the strainer. In spring, water in the Ipswich River can be cold and moving fast. That means dealing with blow-downs and other woody debris can be dangerous, so our River Wardens always carefully assess each situation before acting.
Middleton Stream Team members, who have watched over Middleton’s landings for years, Leon (pictured above) and Sandy Rubchinuk offered their expertise and equipment. Sandy who is both a River Warden and the President of the Middleton Stream Team says, “We got the call, we worked on the problem. Hopefully nobody gets hurt again having to rescue paddlers that capsize due to this fallen tree. It was a terrible spot, and water high and cold. The river should push this to the side now and it will become a great log for turtle basking and heron hunting!”
If you’re a confident river goer and you’d like to aid in stewardship for the Ipswich River Water Trail, you might be River Warden material. To learn more about the volunteer program, please reach out to us at [email protected]
Actions you can take to protect the Ipswich River Water Trail
- Practice Safe Paddling Best Practices
- Always carry-in-carry out
- Pick up trash when walking or paddling.
- Support a healthy Ipswich River by donating today.
The Ipswich River Water Trail and creation of the River Warden volunteer corp were funded by a grant from the MA Department of Conservation’s (DCR) Recreational Trails Program.