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Mass Rivers Alliance urges MassDEP to add water-quantity language, flags missing EPA nutrient criteria
Summary
At a MassDEP public hearing, Heather Klisch of the Mass Rivers Alliance said the proposed surface water quality standards improve protections for recreation but should explicitly account for water quantity and noted EPA-approved nutrient and fishery criteria that appear omitted; MassDEP set a written comment deadline of Feb. 9, 2026.
Heather Klisch, policy director for the Mass Rivers Alliance, urged the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on Jan. 27 to explicitly include water-quantity protections in the state's surface water quality standards and flagged several EPA-approved nutrient and fishery criteria she said were missing from the agency's triennial review.
"The first ingredient in clean water is water," Klisch said, arguing that low stream, river and pond levels can raise pollutant concentrations and increase the risk of cyanobacterial blooms. She said Mass Rivers broadly supports the proposed regulatory changes because they increase recreational protections, remove outdated classifications and make criteria clearer.
Klisch told the remote hearing that Mass Rivers, which represents 85 member organizations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, will submit written comments with specific sample language to include water quantity in the standards. She also said her technical team identified several criteria omitted from this iteration's updates, listing PFAS, cyanobacteria criteria, nutrient criteria for lakes, selenium and new cold-water fishery resource designations. Klisch noted some nutrient criteria were approved by EPA Region 5 years ago.
MassDEP staff instructed attendees that questions and document requests could be submitted by email (or as public records requests when appropriate) and that substantive comments about the amendments should be submitted in writing. An unidentified staff member said, "Submit all your questions and comments in a comment letter," and that the agency plans to respond in a formal response to comments after the comment period closes.
The facilitator announced that the public comment period closes at 5:00 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2026, that MassDEP will consider oral and written comments before finalizing amendments, and that the final regulation will be published on MassDEP's website; the remote hearing was closed at 6:50 p.m. on Jan. 27.
The hearing record contains no vote or formal regulatory decision; MassDEP described next steps as review and written responses to comments before publication of the final amendment package.
