Amesbury, North Reading get water funding
Amesbury and North Reading are among 11 Massachusetts communities that have received federal funding to conduct pollution assessment and planning work to improve water quality.
The state Department of Environmental Protection will distribute $750,266 in grants from stimulus funding and the US Clean Water Act to the winning projects this fall.
Amesbury will receive $46,550 to obtain water quality data and conduct watershed assessment activities on the Powow River between Tuxbury Pond and Lake Gardner and in the lake. That data will be used to create a long-term remediation plan to improve water quality, said Joseph Ferson, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
North Reading’s $26,000 grant will target the Upper Ipswich Basin. Work will focus on assessing erosion, sediment plumes, and how storm water passes through the basin with the goal of creating plans to reduce pollution caused by runoff.
“Storm water is a problem because it carries pollutants and sedimentation into the river ways that negatively impact aquatic ecosystems,’’ Ferson said. Both projects could begin as early as December.
