Press Release: 2/26/2026

MWRA Board Votes To Continue Dumping Sewage Into The Charles For Decades

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 25, 2026

Contact: Carly Sherman, Communications Manager

Phone: (774) 222-1330

Email: csherman@crwa.org

 

BOSTON, MA – The Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) voted to approve an infrastructure plan that would allow sewage discharges into the Charles River forever.



Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are a key source of contamination to the Charles and are becoming more frequent as our climate changes. In outdated combined sewer systems, stormwater and household/industrial wastewater are collected in the same pipes and conveyed to a wastewater treatment plant, but during intense rainstorms, the combined system cannot handle the excess polluted water and releases it into the river.



MWRA and the City of Cambridge are legally required to carry out an extensive CSO planning effort to address 9 of the 10 remaining CSO outfalls on the Charles. Although MWRA was scheduled to vote on its preferred option by the end of 2025, strong opposition to its initial plan, which proposed increasing sewage discharges into the river, led to the deadline being pushed back to April 2026. The national precedent for these plans, known as Long Term Control Plans, is to reduce the amount of sewage being discharged into a waterbody.



The plan approved today anticipates sewage overflows during and following rainstorms that bring slightly over three inches of precipitation within a 24-hour period. To achieve this, the proposal calls for the implementation of several CSO storage tanks and partial separation of the sewage and stormwater pipes. The plan falls short of recommending a large CSO storage tunnel, a practice used in many cities, including here along the South Boston beaches, that would virtually eliminate CSOs into the river.



While the Charles has seen remarkable progress over the past several decades, tens of millions of gallons of sewage are still dumped into the river every year during storm events. MWRA’s current proposal fails to fix the problem.



"We're deeply disappointed in today’s vote,” said CRWA Executive Director Emily Norton. “The MWRA board had an opportunity to be ambitious and forward-looking, and they chose not to. Instead, they voted to invest millions of ratepayer dollars in an outdated system that will continue to dump untreated sewage into our beloved Charles River.”



MWRA claims that fixing the sewage problem is too costly. However, under the MWRA’s own analysis, the difference in cost to MWRA ratepayers between the plan voted on today and the plan preferred by CRWA and other clean river advocates is less than $4 per household per month.



In their February 4th board meeting presentation, the MWRA team projected various project costs in 2050 dollars based on the level of pollution reduction. Under the plan voted on today, ratepayers would pay an additional $43 per household annually ($24 in 2026 dollars, assuming a 2.5% inflation rate). To virtually eliminate sewage discharges, ratepayers would pay an additional $125 per household annually ($69 in 2026 dollars), a difference of $82 a year, or $46 in 2026 dollars.



“For less than the cost of a Dunkin’ iced coffee per month, we could have a sewage-free Charles River, " said Norton. “Instead, our political leaders voted to continue to use it as a toilet, forever.”

What Happens Next

 

The MWRA Board’s vote does not represent final approval.

The proposed plan must still be reviewed and approved by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

That process includes a five-month public comment period, including at least one public hearing, with issuance of a final approved plan expected in January 2027.



“It is not too late to achieve a sewage-free river,” stated Marwa Alnaal, CRWA Advocacy Director. “CRWA and people across the region will make our voices heard for a cleaner, healthier Charles River, advocating for an end to sewage in our rivers.  The people of Massachusetts both expect and deserve sewage-free waterways.”

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Charles River Watershed Association’s mission is to protect, restore, and enhance the Charles River and its watershed through science, advocacy, and the law. CRWA develops science-based strategies to increase resilience, protect public health, and promote environmental equity as we confront a changing climate.