Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center

Description

The Center operates a statewide competitive grants program open to all academic institutions in Massachusetts. The Center cooperates with the UMass Extension Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation program to coordinate stream crossings surveys in order to document barriers to stream continuity in the region. From 1983 to 1993 and again from 2000 to the present, the Center has conducted the internationally recognized Acid Rain Monitoring Project. The initial objective was to provide a complete evaluation of the impact of acid deposition on the surface waters of Massachusetts. Most recently, researchers have been evaluating the impact of the 1990 Clean Air Amendments on surface waters. The program is unique in combining the efforts of hundreds of citizen volunteers and laboratories with University coordination to produce high quality data. The program has won many awards including the National Environmental Achievement Award, the Friends of the United Nations Environmental Program, and the Gulf Oil Conservation Award.