The Merrimack Needs Your Input

ACES is wrapping up its 2025 survey of Merrimack River users to see how they feel about the health of the river following 5 years of severe climate variability with both extended droughts and excessive rain periods. This new survey revisits a previous 2020 user survey that revealed 95% of river users are concerned to very concerned about the current and future condition of the Merrimack River. This was due primarily to Combined Sewer Overflows – CSOs – which occur when there is too much rain for a upstream community’s sewage system to process, discharging untreated sewage into the river

Based in the 2020 survey, users want immediate action to control CSOs. Not easy to accomplish, it involves engineered solutions relating to existing sewer facilities and storm drain structure as well as natural solutions; such as expanding conservation lands adjoining the river, establishing living shorelines, and planting more trees to hold back runoff. In 2016, the American Rivers Association listed the Merrimack as one of the country’s 10 most endangered rivers. The U.S. Forest Service had previously ranked the watershed as the most threatened due to future forestlands development, the fourth most threatened due to water quality issues, and the seventh most threatened due to loss of habitat for at-risk species.

Although there are plenty of other pollutants in the river such as micro- plastics, hazardous chemicals, and stormwater runoff that are of concern, addressing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) is a key starting point for restoring the health of the Merrimack. Looking back, the 2020 survey also found that 73% of respondents believe it is unhealthy to be in the water of the Merrimack and to use it as a source for drinking water, which 600,000 people do. These and other results of the 2020 survey were made available to civic leaders and officials and the public in 2021. The executive summary of that survey report may be downloaded here.

The last 5 years have shown what Climate Change means to our region of the US and for that matter to the rest of the globe. Locally we have seen 2 drought years (one very bad - 2022) and two very wet years (2023 the wettest on record in NH and 2nd wettest in MA). For CSO’s, 2022 was very dry with less CSO discharge but 2023 was very wet and sewer treatment facilities released over 2 billion gallons of sewerage into the Merrimack River, causing extended beach closures and unknown impacts on the people and animals who use the river. Though there is increasing awareness of the CSO problem, there are still many who do not realize that it would be wise to stay out of the river or not fish or collect shellfish from the river following a heavy rainstorm.

To better understand the current public perception of the health of the Merrimack River, ACES is repeating the 2020 survey to see if changes in river conditions are now even more apparent to river users, especially when they compare conditions in 2022 and 2023, the driest and wettest years on record.

We hope that you will help shape the future of the Merrimack River. Both climate and river conditions are changing rapidly. So, whether you rely on the river for recreation, work, or simply its beauty, your 2025 observations are important to preserving the river’s health and sustainability for current and future generations. Please take the new 2025 Merrimack River User Survey.

Lon Hachmeister is an ACES Board Member who lives in Newbury and leads the Merrimack River User Survey project.

ACES team members believe everyone can make a BIG difference together. We invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter via the “Subscribe to Updates” link on ACES’ website – https://www.aces-alliance.org/. Please consider joining our community of stewards committed to Make Every Day Earth Day by contacting acesnewburyport@gmail.com and subscribe to our Instagram and Facebook pages to stay informed.

This educational column was originally published by The Daily News of Newburyport on August 25, 2025