[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 115 (Friday, July 15, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IN RECOGNITION OF THE WESTPORT RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM R. KEATING

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 2016

  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the Westport 
River Watershed Alliance on the occasion of its 40th anniversary.
  The Watershed Alliance, originally created to protest a septic-
composting lagoon project on the Upper East Branch of the Westport 
River, was established by a small group of 14 concerned Westport 
residents. What started as a single protest in 1976 has grown to a 
membership of over 1,500 families and 4,800 volunteers that work on 
numerous conservation projects from running the longest water quality 
monitoring program in Massachusetts to planting over 20,000 beach grass 
seedlings in the past decade to stabilize eroded areas of the Town 
Beach dune system in the Commonwealth.
  The Watershed Alliance has successfully given voice to the natural 
resource concerns of the Westport River. It has become a leader in 
environmental preservation efforts in the region and represents the 
best of the Westport community. The Watershed Alliance has, over the 
years, worked with state legislators to remove granite blocks out from 
underneath a bridge that restricted flow to the Upper East Branch part 
of the river, it has hosted over 28 River Day festivals, has planted 6 
rain gardens at the Westport Middle School which were used to capture 
and treat over 60% of the storm water that flowed previously unchecked 
into the water, and it is working with the Town of Westport and MA 
Estuaries Project to come up with alternatives to expensive sewer 
treatments to help solve the nitrogen pollution problem in an efficient 
and affordable manner.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Westport River Watershed 
Alliance's four decade commitment to protecting the Westport River. I 
ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the service and commitment 
of the members of the Westport River Watershed Alliance.

                          ____________________