Mattapan’s Canterbury Brook might as well be the Loch Ness Monster. Few have actually seen it, no one is quite sure if it’s real, and it disappears right after it appears.
Officially owned by the state Department of Capital Assets Maintenance and Management (DCAMM), the Brook has seen better days, but its meandering underground and above-ground channel could become a critical piece in efforts to setup stormwater mitigation for a large portion of Mattapan.
That is why the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) has set its spotlight on the Brook in a push to restore the waterway and maybe end some of the flooding woes area residents have identified.
“The Canterbury Brook is a tiny brook that is not in the greatest shape and not exactly the jewel of Mattapan,” said Emilia Dick Fiora del Fabro, a restoration and engagement associate at CRWA. “Our mission is to restore and enhance the Charles River and its watershed. What we have been doing is prioritizing a tributary when the need seems right to focus on its improvement.”
A portion of the Canterbury Brook near American Legion Highway in the Boston Nature Center. Seth Daniel photo
Added Joel Richards, the former City Council candidate who is now running engagement for this project, “The Brook is here. But a lot of people don’t know this is here and don’t interact with it. We need to let more people know about it and its current condition.”
Richards said they have already done some door-knocking in the area, and it was while doing so that they learned about flooding concerns that often plague residents from Morton Street to Canterbury Street during rainy times.
“People don’t want to go to sleep to the hum of a sump pump,” he said. “Flooding issues here are a concern, and the Brook is next to several homes.”
The elusive waterway emerges from what looks to be an ancient-looking underground tunnel at Harvard Street and runs through the State Hospital property, under Morton Street and along American Legion Highway on the edge of the Boston Nature Center property, where it goes underground for a bit, then back up along St. Michael’s Cemetery.
No one is sure where it comes from prior to emerging from the tunnel, but overall, it’s part of the Stony Brook system that empties into the Charles River.
This large wetland sits in the middle of the Boston Nature Center near American Legion Highway. A long-term goal for the Canterbury Brook is to allow it to empty into the wetland to alleviate flooding in areas of Mattapan. Seth Daniel photo
Front and center are a number of pinch points along the flow of the Brook, such as the culvert under Morton Street and another one along American Legion Highway. Right now, the effort is bent on getting public input and educating residents in the area about the Brook, with one event already in the books this month at Chez Vous Roller rink where information was swapped alongside roller skating and pizza.
Fiora said they want to bring ideas to residents, but “it will be up to people here to help us figure out the things we do.”
The immediate remedies could be rain gardens, bio-swales, more trees, plantings, and overall clean-up efforts.
A longer-term desire is a partnership of Mass Audubon/Boston Nature Center and the City of Boston to re-route the Brook into the large, newly restored wetland at the Nature Center that “would act like a sponge to soak up stormwater and flooding,” said Fiora.
“The Brook is full of trash and pollution now and they don’t want to route that into their new wetland,” added Fiora, “but long-term flood mitigation is a big part of this project. There’s never been a time in history when Stony Brook was not a problem somewhere.”
Yet there remains hope that the Brook can be restored according to the organization’s mission and the historic flooding problems alleviated at the same time. To do both, the hurdles are high.
A check last week of the severely compromised culvert running under Morton Street showed thousands of plastic water, juice and soda bottles floating in the water and clogging the flow into the culvert. Some of the bottles appeared to be a decade or more old, and all a result of runoff from the roadways and sidewalks. The conditions are common for the Brook, where visible trash, stagnant water, sediment buildup, and poor water quality are the norm.
“For the betterment of the city and sustainability of this area of town, something needs to be done about the culvert under Morton Street,” said Richards. “That is one piece that has to be done if we’re going to do anything to help flood mitigation.”
