Reports: Executive Director’s Reports

December 21, 2009

  1. City-State Groundwater Working Group - The Group will meet again on January 28.
  2. MBTA - The T has installed an additional recharge well on Cazenove Street. They are continuing to fine tune its performance, but initial readings indicate a significant increase in groundwater levels on Cazenove St and some increase on St Charles St.
  3. BWSC - BWSC has made major progress in understanding the causes of low groundwater levels near Fulton and Richmond Streets in the North End and near Dartmouth and Beacon Streets in Back Bay. Once they have confirmed their findings, they will design the necessary repairs.
  4. MassDOT - The new Massachusetts Department of Transportation has replaced the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and combined its work with that of almost all other state transportation entities. They convened the technical advisory committee of the City-State Groundwater Working Group to discuss potential recharge from some of the drains from the Central Artery that need to be redirected. There was agreement on priorities, and the department’s consultants will be developing some preliminary designs for the committee to discuss.
  5. GCOD - GCOD compliance continues to be excellent. The Board of Appeals has ruled on over 160 applications, with only two not being able to completely comply with recharge requirements. Over 80 recharge systems are installed and operating.
  6. Website - Traffic to the website continues high. We have had a few glitches that have temporarily taken the interactive map down; our consultant is working on ways to assure that they will not recur.
  7. Legislation - I testified before the legislative committee hearing on the groundwater legislation filed by Rep. Walz. My prepared statement is posted on our website.
  8. Meetings - I attended BRA scoping sessions on projects at 1000 Washington Street, Castle Square, and Seaport Square. I also met with Councilor-at-Large John Connolly to update him on groundwater issues.
  9. Comment Letters - I filed comments on the 1000 Washington Street and Castle Square projects. They are posted on our website.
  10. Public Improvement Commission - I attended an informal discussion in front of the PIC about the recharge system proposed to be constructed as part of the project to add two buildings to the Prudential Center. PIC will have jurisdiction because the recharge galleys will be on public property.
  11. Vacations - I will be out of the office from December 24 until January 4. I will periodically check voicemail and email during that period.