Above: The Canterbury Brook emerges from a culvert in a wooded area adjacent to Harvard Street and Morton Street in Mattapan. Seth Daniel photo
The Healey-Driscoll administration has awarded a $370,408 grant to advance plans to restore Canterbury Brook and surrounding wetlands at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center in Mattapan, moving a project aimed at improving water quality and reducing neighborhood flooding into its next phase.
The funding will support further design work for the Boston Nature Center Wetland and Stream Restoration project, which focuses on the brook as it travels through the wildlife sanctuary and an adjacent state-owned parcel.
The waterway emerges from a culvert near Harvard and Morton streets before winding through state property, beneath Morton Street, and along American Legion Highway near the Boston Nature Center. Much of the stream is confined to a lined channel or runs underground. It eventually feeds into the Boston Water and Sewer Commission’s Stony Brook drainage system.
The Reporter detailed the restoration effort last year, when the Charles River Watershed Association and other partners began working with nearby residents on ways to improve the brook and address chronic flooding in parts of Mattapan.
Residents reported flooding issues in areas stretching from Morton Street toward Canterbury Street, while project leaders pointed to clogged culverts, sediment, trash, and poor water quality as significant problems.
A citywide study identified the Boston Nature Center property as a priority location for flood mitigation and stormwater treatment. Canterbury Brook also connects to the Stony Brook conduit, which can become overwhelmed during major storms.
During the project’s first phase, planners worked with residents and other stakeholders to develop a preferred restoration concept. The newly funded phase will move that concept toward schematic-level design while also developing a framework for financing, ownership, and long-term maintenance.
One long-range idea discussed during the earlier planning process would redirect portions of Canterbury Brook into a large wetland at the Boston Nature Center. Project planners have said the wetland could act as a natural sponge, holding stormwater during heavy rain and potentially reducing flooding farther downstream. Before that can happen, however, the brook’s water-quality problems would have to be addressed.
When Reporter staff visited the brook last year, portions of the waterway were clogged with plastic bottles and other debris, particularly near the culvert beneath Morton Street. The brook also showed signs of stagnant water and sediment buildup.
The state grant will allow the restoration team to take the project beyond the preliminary planning and community-engagement stage and develop more detailed plans for what could eventually become a significant flood-control and environmental restoration project in Mattapan.
