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26-708: The reservation was established in 1893 by the newly formed Metropolitan Parks Commission (later renamed the Metropolitan District Commission), making it one of the first official nature preserves in Massachusetts, and one of five designed by the commission in that year. Of these five, three were planned as woodland river reservations: the Mystic River Reservation, Charles River Reservation , and Neponset River Reservation . The Mystic River Reservation originally comprised

52-412: A fishway , fish pass , fish steps , or fish cannon , is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams , locks and waterfalls ) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movements of potamodromous species. Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps (hence the term ladder ) into

78-492: A wildlife habitat for hundreds of animal and plant species that play a role in the ecology of the region and enrich the experience of urban park users. Water quality in the once heavily polluted Basin has improved dramatically in recent years, creating better habitat for wildlife and attracting people back to the river. The character of the Basin changes along this 8.5-mile (13.7 km) stretch, forming three discernible zones:

104-465: A challenge is matching swimming performance data to hydrodynamic measurements. Swim tests rarely use the same protocol and the output is either a single-point measurement or a bulk velocity. In contrast, physical and numerical modelling of fluid flow (i.e. hydrodynamics) deliver a detailed flow map, with a fine spatial and temporal resolution. Regulatory agencies face a difficult task to match hydrodynamic measurements and swimming performance data. During

130-412: A dam, "originally cut for the passage of fish up and down the river", is mentioned in the 1823 U.S. Circuit Court Case Tyler v. Wilkinson. This example predates the 1880 fish ladder at Pawtuxet Falls. The 1714 channel "wholly failed for this purpose" and, in 1730, a mill was built in its place. The channel and its mill usage became an important legal case in U.S. water law. A pool and weir salmon ladder

156-697: A little over 250 acres (100 ha) of land. By the early 20th century, most of the land along the Mystic River in Medford, Arlington, and Somerville had become public (i.e. state-owned) land. In 2010, the DCR unveiled a plan for restoring and preserving the reservation, called the Mystic River Master Plan. Proposed projects included a partnership between the DCR and the City of Medford to restore

182-621: The Charles River Bike Paths , motorized and non-motorized boating, playgrounds, picnicking, swimming pools, tennis courts, ice skating, and concerts at the Hatch Memorial Shell . Sailboat rentals are offered through the non-profit Community Boating, Inc . A quarter mile (400 meter) Braille trail is located in Watertown, near the foot of Irving Street. Fish passage A fish ladder , also known as

208-965: The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation . The portion of the reservation between the Charles River Dam and the Eliot Bridge is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places . This includes the park in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston known as the Esplanade . The Charles River above the Watertown Dam is managed as the Upper Charles River Reservation . Features of

234-687: The Mystic Lakes in Winchester, Arlington, and Medford, and Mary O'Malley Waterfront Park in Chelsea. Charles River Reservation The Charles River Reservation is a 17-mile-long (27 km) urban preserve and public recreation area located along the banks of the Charles River in Boston , Cambridge , Watertown , and Newton , Massachusetts . The reservation is managed by

260-647: The granite fountain and the entrance pillars are inscribed with quotations from the President's speeches. Riverbend Park extends on the north side of the Charles, from the Eliot Bridge to Western Ave. in Cambridge. In 1974 Isabella Halsted (who lived on Memorial Drive) circulated a letter asking if neighbors would support closing the Drive to vehicles on Sundays from spring to fall. She may have been familiar with

286-914: The Ballisodare Fish Pass was built in County Sligo in Ireland to draw salmon into a river that had not supported a fishery. In 1880, the first fish ladder was built in Rhode Island , United States, on the Pawtuxet Falls Dam. The ladder was removed in 1924, when the City of Providence replaced the wood dam with a concrete one. USA legislated fishways in 1888. As the Industrial Age advanced, dams and other river obstructions became larger and more common, leading to

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312-730: The Condon Shell (an outdoor amphitheater located just outside Medford Square); restoration of the Amelia Earhart Dam basin parklands; and a $ 3.6 million federally funded link between the reservation, the Minuteman Bikeway , and the Alewife "T" Station . The lower parkland is being redeveloped as part of Assembly Square construction. In 2019, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts funded a feasibility study for

338-683: The Lower Basin, as are the slope of Beacon Hill and the gold dome of the State House . Particular park sections within the reservation, such as Magazine Beach and Herter Park, provide intensely used open space for the bordering urban neighborhoods. The Middle Basin is a zone of transition from urban and formal to rural and more natural. Parkways lining the Charles River Basin separate the esplanades in Boston and Cambridge from

364-726: The Lower Basin, from the 1910 Charles River Dam to the Boston University Bridge ; the Middle Basin, from the BU Bridge to Herter Park, and the Upper Basin, from Herter Park to the Watertown Dam. The Lower Basin is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long and up to 2,000 feet (610 m) wide. The panoramas in the Lower Basin define the image of Boston and Cambridge. The Longfellow Bridge is a powerful presence in

390-769: The Mystic to Charles Connector Path linking the southern end of the bicycle and pedestrian paths in the reservation (near Sullivan Square ) to the Somerville Community Path , for connections to the Charles River Bicycle Path and downtown Boston. Reconstruction of Draw Seven Park is expected to last from late summer 2024 to 2026. Facilities for field sports, picnicking, cycling, and sailing are found at four riverside parks: Draw Seven Park in Somerville, Torbert MacDonald Park in Medford,

416-405: The baffles decrease the flow velocity and increase the water depth to facilitate fish passage. At larger discharges, baffles induce lower local velocities and generate recirculation regions. However, baffles can reduce drastically the culvert discharge capacity for a given afflux, thus increasing substantially the total cost of the culvert structure to achieve the same design discharge and afflux. It

442-494: The closing of sections of Rock Creek Parkway in Washington, D.C. A portion of the drive was blocked off for the first time the following year. For nine years, the private Trust for Riverbend Park raised funds to cover the cost of the road closing. In 1985 the state legislature authorized and funded the permanent closing of the road from April to November. The reservation's multiple recreational opportunities include cycling on

468-652: The dam construction, fill was added between the Longfellow Bridge and Charlesgate and dedicated as the Boston Embankment, now universally known as the Esplanade. The modern dam houses six pumps that provide flood control protection. The dam's lock system permits travel of recreational and commercial vessels from the river to the harbor year round. A fish passage allows for passage of anadromous fish ( alewife , rainbow smelt and shad ) during

494-631: The first public outdoor gymnasiums in the United States, one for women and girls near the Longfellow Bridge and one for men and boys near Leverett Street (now Leverett Circle). The 5-acre (2.0 ha) John F. Kennedy Park located near Harvard Square is landscaped with plants that bloom at the time of the President's May birthday and a memorial fountain . The park, designed by Carol R. Johnson Associates of Boston, uses materials indigenous to New England including native trees, and

520-433: The last three decades, the ecological impact of culverts on natural streams and rivers has been recognised. While the culvert discharge capacity derives from hydrological and hydraulic engineering considerations, this results often in large velocities in the barrel, which may prevent fish from passing through. Baffles may be installed along the barrel invert to provide some fish-friendly alternative. For low discharges,

546-406: The migration season in late spring. Created in 1910 by damming the formerly tidal river and permanently flooding the tidal marshes and mud flats , the Charles River Basin was designed to provide a "water park" for city dwellers, with access to outstanding river scenery and recreational opportunities on both water and land. Though entirely designed—and in that sense artificial—the Basin is also

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572-467: The nearby neighborhoods. The largest open space is between the Harvard University athletic fields on the south and Mount Auburn and Cambridge cemeteries on the north. Together, these areas form a critical oasis for migrating birds. Frederick Law Olmsted 's 1889 design for Charlesbank created the first public space along the river. It included a promenade along the water's edge, as well as

598-536: The need for effective fish by-passes. Fish ladders have a mixed record of effectiveness. This varies for different types of species, with one study showing that only three percent of American Shad make it through all the fish ladders on the way to their spawning ground. Effectiveness depends on the fish species' swimming ability, and how the fish moves up and downstream. A fish passage that is designed to allow fish to pass upstream may not allow passage downstream, for instance. Fish passages do not always work. In practice

624-646: The reservation include the Charles River Dam, the Charles River Basin, the Boston and Cambridge Esplanades , and John F. Kennedy Park. The 1978 Charles River Dam , located behind the TD Garden , controls the water level in the river basin. An earlier dam (see Charles River Dam Bridge ), located beneath the Museum of Science , was completed in 1910 with the purpose of creating a fresh water river basin and riverfront park in Boston and Cambridge. As part of

650-480: The waters on the other side. The velocity of water falling over the steps has to be great enough to attract the fish to the ladder, but it cannot be so great that it washes fish back downstream or exhausts them to the point of inability to continue their journey upriver. Written reports of rough fishways date to 17th-century France, where bundles of branches were used to make steps in steep channels to bypass obstructions. A 1714 construction of an old channel bypassing

676-535: Was built around 1830 by James Smith, a Scottish engineer on the River Teith, near Deanston, Perthshire in Scotland. Both the weir and salmon ladder are there today and many subsequent salmon ladders built in Scotland were inspired by it. A version was patented in 1837 by Richard McFarlan of Bathurst, New Brunswick , Canada, who designed a fishway to bypass a dam at his water-powered lumber mill. In 1852–1854,

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