Overview
- The draft presented this week would change water-quality status for specific stretches to explicitly allow combined sewer overflow discharges while pursuing lower-cost upgrades.
- MWRA officials say the approach reduces overall pollution and limits customer rate impacts, as advocacy groups condemn the move as a rollback that undercuts a swimmable river.
- Cost estimates diverge widely, with the authority’s recommended Charles plan at about $360 million versus advocates’ preferred infrastructure overhauls at roughly $2.6 billion.
- After about $900 million in prior work that eliminated nearly 90% of CSOs, heavy rains still drove an estimated 47.8 million gallons of discharge last year, prompting 48-hour no-contact advisories and concerns about worsening storms.
- The board will take up the plan again on Nov. 19 before submissions to MassDEP and the EPA by Dec. 31, with final approval anticipated in early 2027.