With nearly identical initiatives now underway in neighboring communities such as Woburn and Stoneham, Reading officials earlier this fall unveiled the end result of a major wetland habitat restoration project that should significantly improve major flooding problems along a branch of the Aberjona River.
In September, city leaders and dignitaries including U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton and Executive Office for Energy and Environmental Affairs Undersecretary Katherine Antos gathered at an 18-acre conservation and recreation area at Austin Preparatory High School and Lowell Street and on Willow Street to tour the major stormwater storage and conservation area improvement project.
As a beneficiary of approximately $5 million in investments, nearly 80 percent of which came from state and federal grants, the City of Reading broke ground on the Maillet, Sommes and Morgan Nature Reserve Climate Resilience Project in the summer of 2023.
Thanks to the improvements, which are expected to completely eliminate the flooding problems that have plagued residents, various stormwater culverts connected to the wetland have been cleaned and restored, while new flood storage has been created by connecting various water basins on the site.
The work, which is also expected to reduce the frequency and severity of flooding downstream in neighboring communities by reducing the rate of runoff into the nearby Aberjona River during major storm events, also included efforts to stabilize sections of river banks. The Aberjona River, which flows through neighboring Woburn before joining the Mystic River, which winds its way to Boston Harbor, begins as a stream in Reading and flows under Lowell Street just past the Maillet, Sommes and Morgan Nature Preserve.
Reading residents and visitors visiting the nature reserve and a nearby bird sanctuary will now have the opportunity to relax along a series of new boardwalks, allowing them to explore parts of the 18-acre site that were previously inaccessible.
“Seeing how this project has evolved over the last few years has been truly inspiring,” Reading City Manager Matt Kraunelis said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in mid-September. “By creating this transformative space, we have combined an innovative solution to a pervasive problem of Aberjona River flooding with a beautiful natural area for Reading residents to enjoy. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the delegation for their assistance in securing these funds.”
“Stormwater storage and flood protection are issues facing many areas of the Commonwealth, and creatively designed solutions like these are the way of the future,” Moulton also noted during the special meeting earlier this fall. “I was proud to receive $2 million in federal funding to support this new stormwater system. Making this project a reality is a true collaboration between federal and state governments and I am grateful for the efforts of everyone involved in bringing such an important environmental and recreational area to Reading.”
Back in 2018, representatives from the Mystic River Watershed Association and the Resilient Mystic Collaborative — which represent about 21 communities that lie along the larger 76-square-mile watershed that flows into Boston Harbor — began working with officials in Reading, Stoneham and Woburn to find ways to improve the natural resource.
During these consultations with city officials, both environmental groups noted that Reading is in the heart of a particularly sensitive area where the Mystic River, the Aberjona River and portions of the Saugus and Ipswich River watersheds converge.
In a subsequent request for funding under the state's Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP), environmental advocates argued that the improvements at Maillet, Sommes and Morgan would prove particularly impactful.
Launched in 2017, the state's MVP program is designed to help cities and towns across Massachusetts prepare for a range of potential weather-related disasters that could be caused by climate change in the coming years and decades.
Reading was first designated as an MVP community in 2020 and used an initial portion of state funding to implement initial plans and designs for the proposed stormwater storage and wetland enhancement project.
In 2022, Reading officials learned that the state had awarded the township about $2.1 million to support the program, while Moulton later managed to allocate another $1.5 million to the initiative.
“Climate resilience may or may not happen in our communities. Years of collaborative research and planning translate into on-site projects that will make a real difference in people's lives. These state and federal investments are both recognition and essential support for their great work,” Mystic River Watershed Association representative Julie Wormser boasted in August 2022 when Reading raised its second round of MVP funding.
Last summer, Mass. Gov. Maura Healey announced plans to move forward with similar wetland restoration projects in nearby Stoneham, where city officials have received about $2.35 million from the township's high school and the nearby Middlesex Fells Reservation to address flooding problems.
Meanwhile, the city of Woburn is also considering a similar initiative aimed at easing problems in the community's busy Four Corners area by expanding stormwater capacity in the 20-acre Shaker Glen Conservation Area.
Back in the spring of 2023, the Woburn City Council allocated approximately $235,000 for the estimated $2 million project, which is intended to reduce flooding issues in the community's West Side area at Lexington and Cambridge Roads and the Burlington Line . Two years earlier, city officials took a major step toward making the project a reality by accepting a gift of 12 acres of land from Russell Street that belonged to Woburn's prominent DeMoulas family.
The proposed project will restore a portion of Shaker Glen Brook, which was diverted from land in the 1950s to create a since-closed bowling alley. To accomplish this feat, the city will demolish the last remnants of the dilapidated attraction, including the building's foundation and an estimated 40,000 square feet of broken pavement that surrounded the bowling alley.
A 20,000-square-foot stormwater treatment system would also be installed, as well as a new stormwater diversion berm to treat runoff from Russell Street before it enters the creek. Finally, to control flooding in and around the Four Corners area, a new 10-foot by 6-foot box culvert would be installed to replace an old 60-inch culvert in the area.