Wetland Protection in Newton:

A Guide for Land Owners and Landscapers

As a landscaper or the owner of low ground, you have in your care one of Newton's most important resources, its wetlands. This pamphlet is intended as a brief guide to sound management practice, to help assure our wetlands' health.

Return to Conservation Commission web page

Why Protect Wetlands?

Wetlands are valuable to wildlife as a source of nesting places, protective cover, and food. They are the only home of some species of plants that have become quite rare. Wetlands improve the quality of both surface water and groundwater, acting to filter out pollutants and to separate water bodies from disturbance.

Wetlands inhibit flooding. They absorb water during storms and release it slowly, at a rate streams can better handle. During heavy rains, natural floodplains fill up, giving storm water a place to go other than our basements and roads. Wetlands and bordering high ground in public ownership form some of our largest open spaces, giving us a place for walks, skating, cross-country skiing, and quiet enjoyment.

For a long time, we treated wetlands as dumping grounds. We filled them to "reclaim" them and channelized their streams. We pay the price through diminished water quality, less abundant wildlife, and storm damage during floods. Protection of wetlands and floodplains in their natural state is a cost-effective alternative to the construction of artificial systems like treatment plants and dams, at public expense. Wetlands and floodplains serve us naturally.

Regulations

A variety of federal, state, and local laws affects wetlands in Newton. One of the most important of these is the Wetlands Protection Act, passed by Massachusetts in 1972, and amended by the Rivers Protection Act in 1996. Under the Act, no one may "remove, fill, dredge, or alter" any wetland, floodplain, bank, 200 ft riverfront of a perennial stream, land under a water body, or land within 100 feet of a wetland without a permit from the Conservation Commision. Newton has its own Watershed/Floodplain Ordinance as well. Both the Act and the Ordinance are administered by the Conservation Commission, a board of volunteer residents appointed by the Mayor and assisted by the Conservation Administrator. The Commission holds monthly meetings and hearings where the public may voice concerns and observations. Public hearings are advertised at least five days in advance in the Newton TAB. Abutters of large projects receive mailed notices.

The Wetlands Protection Act definesprotected resource areas:

  • banks;
  • 200 ft riverfront areas;
  • land under water;
  • vegetated wetlands; and
  • land subject to flooding.

The Watershed/Floodplain Ordinance provides further protection to named streams and  ponds, and to low areas subject to flooding;  it also establishes a 30 ft flood zone protection area on either side of the centerline of some of Newton’s intermittent streams (streams that flow only when it rains).  Any fill in these areas is permitted only with the creation of an equal amount of compensatory flood storage area.

Regulated work includes construction of subdivisions, commercial buildings, houses, decks, driveways, and additions, as well as removal of vegetation and re-grading. Violations are subject to enforcement action.

Responsibility for compliance, including remedial action, rests with the land owner.

 

 

How Do I Know What Is A Wetland?

Some wetlands are easy to identify. A pond is not land, but it is wet, and so it is a wetland. So is a vernal pool - a low place that fills with water in the spring but is dry at the surface through the rest of the seasons. So is land overgrown with the kind of plants we commonly find on wet ground - cattails, for instance. Sometimes wetlands are defined by their hydrology or soils. More often, they are defined by their plant communities: where species that commonly occur in wetland are in the majority, that place is most likely a wetland.

Red maple is one indicator. Other wetland plants common in Newton are these:

  • skunk cabbage
  • high bush blueberry
  • purple loosestrife
  • sensitive fern
  • sweet pepperbush

To find out whether land is wetland, you can get help from the city's Conservation Administrator (in the Conservation Commission office at City Hall). He or she will be glad to help you determine what land is wetland and advise you on how to proceed.

Sometimes the identification of affected land becomes technical. Land that may appear to be dry may, in fact, be in a floodplain. When a peak storm arrives, that land may be under water. Floodplains are identified by elevation. Newton maintains a good set of federal and local floodplain contour maps. These can help to locate places on your property that may be subject to flooding. The Conservation Administrator or Engineering Department personnel can help you read them. (For an exact determination, a survey prepared by a licensed land surveyor is required.)

The small rivulet that only flows intermittently during rains may technically be a wetland. So are the banks of a brook, which may be subject to erosion, though they themselves are not wet. The puddle that forms in the wheel ruts in your dirt driveway on high ground is not a wetland. Neither is the blueberry patch you planted on top of a hill.

What Is And is Not Allowed In A Wetland?

The general rule for wetlands is "no alteration". Our yards may be high-maintenance, with lawns that need frequent cutting and hedges that need pruning. With wetlands, the approach is hands-off.

In a wetland, the aim is to maintain the healthy functioning of plant and wildlife communities. Disturbing the soil (so that it may erode), dumping grass clippings, brush, and leaves (which smother plants), and clearing natural vegetation are prohibited. Putting up buildings is not allowed. In a floodplain, the aim is to maintain the ability of the land to receive and hold flood waters, so filling is prohibited without a permit from the Conservation Commission. It is also bad practice to store materials in a floodplain: in a flood, they are apt to be swept away, at a loss to their owner and with potential damage to water quality and downstream property.

The Conservation Commission has the authority to regulate activities in wetlands. It also has jurisdiction in the "buffer zone" of upland that is within 100 feet of the border of the wetland resource area. The buffer zone gives the Commission the ability to require that steps be taken to minimize the threat of adverse wetland impacts when construction on the upland takes place.

If the buffer zone activity you plan is relatively minor and will not result in damage or alteration to the wetland resource area -- cutting a tree or installing a fence near the wetland border -- you need only to contact the Conservation Administrator at City Hall. The Administrator can look over the planned work and will likely be able to issue an approval in the form of a letter, with little delay.

If your activity is more extensive -- installing an addition in the buffer zone, installing a driveway at the edge of a wetland -- you will need to follow a more formal procedure that can involve:

  • hiring a surveyor, an engineer, or, perhaps, a botanist;
  • filing a Request for Determination of Applicability (of wetland or flood plain regulations);
  • filing a Notice of Intent; and
  • appearing (in person or through a representative) before the Commission at a public meeting.

The Commission may issue an Order of Conditions that spells out procedures during construction. Once work is completed in accordance with the terms of the Order, you apply for and receive a Certificate of Compliance. These last two documents are filed in public records at the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds in Cambridge. In the event of disagreement with a finding of the Commission under the Wetlands Protection Act, appeal is available to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Though regulations prohibit filling and other activity in a wetlands resource area, some flexibility is available in unusual circumstances, subject to stringent requirements. Driveways, for instance, can be allowed through wetlands or floodplains where no other legal access to an owner's upland is available. In such cases, the project design must be environmentally sensitive, and compensatory flood storage and wetland replacement are required so that no net loss of either of these resource areas occurs.

What Can I Do To Help Maintain The Health Of Wetlands?

You can do many things:

  • remove bottles and trash
  • dispose of yard waste somewhere else, such as the recycling
  • center; or
  • set up a compost pile away from the wetland;

    the leaves and

  • grass will decompose to become your best soil
  • down near the wetland, set up a small brush pile or two made of branches from yard waste;

    a brush pile makes good wildlife cover

  • don't dump crankcase oil into street drains

    (what goes into drains and the ground in Newton eventually goes into the Charles River);

    Proper disposal of oil is available at the store where you purchased it or at the Rumford Avenue recycling center

  • don't dump anything that pollutes
  • avoid the use of de-icing salt; hardware stores carry more nature-friendly alternatives
  • avoid the use of fertilizers (which cause algae blooms in surface waters) and poisons
  • make use of dry wells for drainage, to avoid heavy runoff into watercourses from roofs and paving
  • talk to your neighbor if your neighbor is inadvertently spoiling the wetland
  • report violations (anonymously, if you like) to the Conservation Administrator

How Can I Enjoy The City's Conservation Areas?

Walk in them, jog in them, walk your dog on a leash in them. See what lives in them, and learn about them.
The Newton Conservators have compiled an informative map of Newton's open spaces, showing land features and trail maps. The map is available through the Conservators (Newton Conservators, Box 590011, Newton, MA 02459, or at www.newtonconservators.org).
The Commission itself may be contacted through the Environmental Planner at City Hall at (617) 796-1134.   
Copies of the Wetlands Protection Act, the Newton Floodplain/Watershed Protection Ordinance, floodplain maps, and city contour maps are available at Newton City Hall from the Conservation Commission, Engineering Department, and Inspectional Services Department.

Conservation | Planning