A committee leading Natick’s examination of what actions to take regarding the future of the South Natick Dam will share a report with the Select Board on Wednesday about what’s been done so far and what the timeline looks like over the next few months.

The Charles River Dam Advisory Committee, formed about a year ago and consisting of town officials as well as interested members of the general public, plans to make a recommendation regarding the 1934 dam in August.

The town has been engaged with the public and environmental experts in a seemingly nonstop series of meetings, site visits, and surveys over the past year. They’re trying to figure out whether the iconic spillway (aka, waterfall) needs to be removed to protect the town from liability if it were to fail, and if it should be removed to return the river to a more natural state. Sure, it probably won’t be as nice a place for wedding pictures, but couples can always go over to other picturesque spots in town like the… Golden Triangle.

Those giant trees atop the earthen dam next to the spillway snuck up on the town over the years, and after receiving multiple negative reports from the state about the dam, Natick readied in 2019 to repair the structure after Town Meeting appropriated funds. But in 2020 the town was prompted by local environmental groups and members of the public to look into whether spillway removal might be cheaper for Natick, better for the environment, and provide new recreational opportunities.

The town did look into whether it might be possible to keep the trees atop the dam under any repair scenario, and was told “Nope” by the state’s Office of Dam Safety.

The state’s Division of Ecological Restoration has issued a grant to the town to help it answer some of its remaining questions, including the extent of sediment movement that could affect downriver communities more than Natick (a crew plans to hit the Charles on March 10 to do its surveying—weather and river conditions pending). Curious minds also wonder about a sort of consolation prize for spillway lovers—recreating the sound of falling water via a riffle.

Serious analysis of feedback and data is planned for the next few months, followed by some intense community consultation, and then decision making.

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Natick’s Charles River Dam Advisory Committee will be meeting next online on Tuesday, Jan. 25, from 4-6:30pm via Zoom.

The agenda will focus on recreation opportunities and features that would be desirable at the current dam site. Discussion will also include key questions, including alternative repair methodologies.

Any member of the public who wishes to submit written comments to the Advisory Committee may submit those via mosthues@cbi.org by 10am on Jan. 25. There will also be a brief public comment period during the meeting.

The 1934 dam has received a series of less-than-stellar inspection grades in recent years and the town has finally decided it better do something about this since it owns the dam. As a high hazard structure that impounds about 160 million gallons of water, the dam would do some real damage to its surroundings if it fails. Town Meeting in 2019 approved $1.25M in funds to fix the dam, but since then the prospect of just getting rid of it has been been entertained.

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Those traveling along Rte. 9 and on the Cochituate Rail Trail for now have an impressive new industrial sight to behold: Hulking white filters designed to put their granulated activated carbon up against the nastiest forever chemicals in Natick’s public water supply.

Natick discovered elevated levels of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the town’s drinking water during the process of getting a new well online in 2020. Since then the town has been taking actions, including a water ban and tapping wells usually off limits at certain times, to mitigate the problem.

The filters, located at the Springvale Water Treatment Plant, should be in action by late February according to a town update on PFAS.

Supply chain issues delayed a hoped-for November or December launch. The filters, from an outfit called TIGG, will soon be masked within a metal building, then some piping and electrical work will need to be done to get them online.

The filters, funded through a $3M capital appropriation at Spring Town Meeting and emergency funding through the state, are designed to extract PFAS from 2 million gallons of water a day and allow the plant to pump out 4 million gallons of water by mixing in other clean water.

Natick has also begun researching the cause of PFAS in the water, and neighboring Wellesley is reviewing a proposal to do likewise, with plans to share findings.

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