Boston: Council Calls for Infrastructure Solutions to Protect Local Waterways

~ Boston City Council Opposes Draft Plan for Combined Sewer Overflows

In an effort to protect the local waterways of Boston, the City Council has adopted a resolution opposing the current Draft Updated Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Long-Term Control Plan. The resolution calls for stronger infrastructure solutions to address the issue of combined sewer overflows and their impact on communities.

Combined Sewer Overflows occur when heavy rainfall overwhelms the capacity of combined sewer and stormwater systems, resulting in untreated wastewater being discharged into local waterways. This includes raw human waste and harmful pathogens like E. coli. Every year, millions of gallons of untreated stormwater are released into the Charles and Mystic Rivers, affecting densely populated neighborhoods in Boston and surrounding areas.

The resolution also addresses the Draft Updated CSO Long-Term Control Plan for the Charles River, Alewife Brook, and Upper Mystic River basins, which was released in April 2026 by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), the City of Cambridge, and the City of Somerville. According to the resolution, these draft recommendations do not provide complete CSO control and fail to eliminate CSO outfalls and sewer overflows into local waterways. It calls for modern infrastructure solutions such as tunnel storage or sewer separation to be included in the final plan in order to effectively control CSOs and prevent discharges except during a 2050 25-year storm or larger.

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By adopting this resolution, the Council has expressed its opposition to the current Draft Updated CSO Long-Term Control Plan and has called on MWRA, Cambridge, and Somerville to strengthen the final plan. The resolution also urges Boston to work with neighboring municipalities and state agencies to prioritize eliminating CSOs in future infrastructure planning in order to fully protect both the Charles River and Boston Harbor watershed.

The issue of combined sewer overflows is a pressing concern for Boston's waterways and surrounding communities. The City Council's resolution serves as a call to action for stronger and more effective infrastructure solutions to protect the health and well-being of local residents and the environment.

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