ABSTRACT
The Clean Charles 2005 Initiative (CCI), led by the New England office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in cooperation with 10 communities that border the Charles River, established the ambitious goal of making the Lower Charles River fully fishable and swimmable by the year 2005. In its initial press release, EPA laid out an eight-point plan toward achieving this goal, which “relies on cooperative efforts among the federal, state and local governments; citizen participation; good science; and, where necessary, strong enforcement” (U.S. EPA 1995, 2 ). It embodied a series of activities designed to improve water quality in the Charles, including combined sewer overflow (CSO) controls, removal of illegal sanitary connections, stormwater management planning and implementation, public outreach, education, monitoring, enforcement, and technical assistance (U.S. EPA 2000b).
