has lived next to the Muddy River for 25 years. Trained as a historian of China, she is an environmentalist at heart. In between her work as a researcher at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and fishing with her husband and two sons, she advocates for cleaner and safer water for our planet. As a specialist in the history of charity, she knows that charity begins at home. She loves that Muddy Water.
has been an environmentalist since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and has never met a watershed or wetlands or benthic macroinvertebrate she doesn’t love. A retired medical sociologist with a background in City and Regional Planning and Health Promotion Research and Policy Analysis, she is an active member of Gas Leaks Allies, Boston Clean Energy Coalition, and the Green Committee of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (NABB). Author of “Many Mind Creek/Sandy Hook Bay: Planning Habitat Restoration of an Estuarine Ecosystem and its Adjacent Greenway,” Jackie received New Jersey’s Environmental Stewardship award in 2006. She looks forward to walleye ice fishing in the Muddy.Sign up for our
Clean river, healthy communities
Welcome to the advocacy and educational clearinghouse for Boston’s Muddy River. Environmentalists, stakeholders, and stewards of our vital urban waterway, we support climate-resilient projects that keep our River clean and our communities healthy. In so doing, we are honoring the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted and his visionary design of a sparkling Emerald Necklace.
We invite all friends and neighbors to jump in. Let’s work together for a #cleanmuddy!
Project #1
Muddy River WATERGOAT Pilot 2
Flowing through the heart of Boston, the Muddy River is one of the top two most polluted tributaries of the Charles River and a critical link in urban Boston’s flood control system. With the approval of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and the active engagement of water quality experts, water scientists, trash boom providers, engineers, and a host of eco-activist volunteers, we are embarking on a pilot project to rid the Muddy River of the trash—old bottles, clothing, shoes, balls, scrap plastic and fencing, and other toxic and unsightly debris—that currently pollutes the ecosystem.
The WATERGOAT Pilot Project will install a safe, heavily tested, and effective raw trash barrier and clean-up device at the critical Charlesgate East and Ipswich Streets juncture of the Muddy and Charles Rivers. This will be the 92nd WATERGOAT system implementation in the US and a model for ongoing river clean-up efforts in Boston and beyond.
We are grateful to New England Grassroots Environmental Fund for their fiscal sponsorship.
Photos: Courtesy of BIGWATER Rescue
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Donate
The Muddy Water Initiative appreciates your financial contributions. Our climate-resilient projects will clean the Muddy River today and for future generations. Join your neighbors in climate action!
Here’s how to jump in:
Visit grassrootsfund.org. Select Fiscal Sponsorship Group, then Muddy Water Initiative.
Or send your donation to:
Muddy Water Initiative, PO Box 990906, Boston, MA 02199
For tax-deductible contributions, please make your check payable to New England Grassroots Environmental Fund and note Muddy Water Initiative in the memo line.
Or, you may make your check payable to Muddy Water Initiative. Note: we are not a 501(c)3 organization.
Questions? Contact info@muddywaterinitiative.org
Twitter Feed
Happy 4th of July from @MuddyWaterInit!! We hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather and appreciating our beatiful neighborhood river https://t.co/xgQFCl1coc
Let’s stay informed about Phase II of the Muddy River Restoration Project!Watch the full debrief from Tuesday here: https://t.co/cLKD78akWH https://t.co/iIepxSlIE5
Calling all #muddybuddies!! Send us photos or videos of some of your favorite trees along the Muddy! Thanks @GardinoFran for this wonderful idea! https://t.co/GfDSkxfqtH
The Muddy River Restoration Project Phase II is meant to make the Muddy River healthier. But is it going exactly as planned? Instead of cutting down 123 trees all at once, the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to remove them in phases as activists have asked. How can we do more? https://t.co/wjTBmK8md5
The "Sweet Fragrance" flower and the reproduction of Barcelona's "Desconsol" in 1911 lives right off @OurMuddy, at the Kelleher Rose Garden @BostonParksDept by the @mfaboston and @gardnermuseum. https://t.co/RnlRCl5GlI
Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement! We sure are proud to be #muddybuddies! https://t.co/8GHaDBLzJ6
