Water Closet 4/30 – The “Good Ole Days” Were Not
April 30th, 2010 | by Middleton Stream Team
WATER RESOURCE AND CONSERVATION INFORMATION FOR MIDDLETON, BOXFORD AND TOPSFIELD
| Precipitation Data* for Month of: | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
| 30 Yr Normal (1971 – 2000) Inches | 3.80 | 3.22 | 3.88 | 4.17 |
| 2010 Central Watershed Actual | 5.86 | 5.63 | 19.19** | 1.88 |
Ipswich River Flow Rate (S. Middleton USGS Gage) in Cubic Feet per Second (CFS):
For April 27, 2010:  Normal . . . 86 CFS  Current Rate . . . 88 CFS
THE “GOOD OLE DAYS” WERE NOT
Ninety-eight right whales have recently been counted feeding off Cape Cod; significantly more than usually arrive for plankton blooms each spring. Marine biologists say this may be one-fourth the world’s population of this species, which has been protected off our coasts for almost a century. This news came in early April as 40th Earth Day celebrations were being planned. In just two generations the EPA, DEP, hundreds of other governmental and thousands of non-governmental environmental organizations have come into being. The good whale news and thoughts of Earth Days and all that environmental movements have wrought precipitated a lively discussion among us Closeteers. Each month old timers are bombarded with emails listing nostalgic memories of the “good ole days” from people who must have successfully repressed the bad. For whales the 19th and early 20th centuries were times of relentless slaughter (more…)
Weed for the River
April 26th, 2010 | by Trish
Help keep our native plant gardens looking attractive and welcoming. Join us every other Thursday, from 8:30 – 10:30. Bring your own gloves and tools, if possible (but we have some too) and spend some time outside with a congenial group. The native plant garden, rain garden and bird and butterfly garden at Riverbend (143 County Rd, Ipswich) demonstrate how to have beautiful gardens and help wildlife while saving water, chemicals and money. Please RSVP to taldrich@ipswichriver.org.
Water Closet 4/23 – Changes Among River Meanders
April 23rd, 2010 | by Middleton Stream Team
Patriot’s Day paddlers round a meander beneath beaver-drowned trees in the Ipswich River floodplain. Photo: Judy Schneider
Danvers, Middleton, and Peabody intermesh along the loopy lines of the Ipswich River’s channel. The river changes character from more or less fast flowing to lazy meanderings as it swings north from West Peabody. It is only two and one-half miles as an impatient duck might fly from the ninety degree turn in Peabody to the Maple Street bridge in Middleton. A channel-loving fish must travel twice that between the same points. Several great arcs cut by flowing water in ledge-less soils almost curve back upon themselves. Lewis, Clark, men, and woman found such on the Missouri after they towed with ropes their heavy boat upriver against strong currents for whole days at a time. When climbing the bluffs (more…)
LaVida explores River on Earth Day
April 22nd, 2010 | by Jim
The La Vida Adventure Club from Wenham canoed the Ipswich River from Bradley Palmer State Park to RiverBend on Earth Day.
4 College students and 3 High School students paddled to Ipswich from Topsfield and then clipped our buckthorn (an invasive plant from Asia) so we can restore our habitat at RiverBend! Â A little lightning slowed the pace but they were back at it until the sky fell on us.
What an extraordinary group of people doing real and positive things for our River!
