2 Herring vs. 32,788: What’s Happing on the Ipswich River?
The spring herring count takes place annually at the Ipswich Mills Dam fish ladder to track trends in the population. The results have shown consistently low numbers of river herring returning to the Ipswich River on their annual spawning migration. Barriers to migration, leading to loss of access to historic spawning ponds have greatly reduced…
From Camper to Counselor: One Intern’s Journey Back
Over a decade ago, I was an elementary schooler taking her first canoe trip down the Ipswich River at summer camp. Wearing a massive smile and unbelievable amounts of sunscreen, I sat in the center of the canoe, listening to the birds and feeling the water splash up onto me. Over a decade later, I…
Beyond the Riverbank: Interns Learn the Art of Advocacy
On July 14th, IRWA staff and interns made a trip to Boston and met with staff from the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) and had a meeting with one of our legislators on Beacon Hill. Our first stop was CRWA, where we listened to a few staff members talk about their mission, gave us an…
Summer Intern Spotlight: Water Use by the Numbers
Parker-Ipswich-Essex-Rivers Partnership Awarded $150,000 to Advance Regional Restoration
The Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded $150,000 through the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) Partnerships Program to support the Parker-Ipswich-Essex Rivers (“PIE-Rivers”) Partnership. The PIE-Rivers Partnership works across communities to protect, restore, and increase the resiliency of the valuable aquatic…
History Repeating: What a 1984 Sewage Crisis Can Teach Us Today
Hi, I’m Jacob Nevins, and as part of my work with my internship with IRWA this summer, I have been combing through decades of old newsletters from our first in 1976 all the way to now. With IRWA’s 50th anniversary approaching, this archive project has become a better way to understand the story of the…