Where It All Begins

Those who live in and around Boston probably know the Charles River best from views along Memorial and Sturrow Drive, the Longfellow Bridge, and the Museum of Science. Here the river is slow and immense, and past the BU bridge sailboats fighting the current midriver can seem very small indeed. Head a bit farther west and residents can see the river from Norumbega and Cutler parks and Echo Bridge, where the far bank is literally a stone's throw away. But follow the river all the way back, past all the tributaries and dams, past Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, and Ashland, and you'll come to a lovely little spot called Echo Lake in Hopkinton, Mass, where you can fish for yellow perch and pickerel. This (actually just north of this) is where the Charles River actually begins. Here's a satellite image of Echo Lake from Google.

Looks peaceful.

Now, you may be wondering where the heck the river is, and you may start thinking that I'm playing some sort of hilarious practical joke on you and the town of Hopkinton. But you would be wrong.

At its source, the Charles River is only about 5 feet across and maybe a foot and a half deep, modest beginnings for such an important waterway. You could probably come up with some heartfelt line about how this shows how little things can grow into big things or how when everyone works together it makes a big difference or believe in yourself blah blah blah. If you want that kind of feel-good sentimental nonsense, then kindly allow me to escort you to the "back" button because you came to wrong blog, buddy. Now back to business.

Because of Echo Lake's rural locality it is one of the least polluted regions of the Charles. An EPA survey of sites along the Charles River in 1997 found Echo Lake to be the second cleanest site, however, the same study also found levels of lead, copper, mercury and zinc, as well as pesticides 4,4'DDD and 4,4' DDE above the "lowest effect level" (as determined by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, for some reason). These levels were found in sediment, where heavy metals can adhere to clay and silt particles; no metals were detected in the water column. In general, the river becomes more polluted as one moves downstream toward the highly developed towns around Boston, where over the last few centuries heavy metals, plastics and pesticides have accumulated in the sediment.

So next time you ride the red line between Charles/MGH and Kendall and see the river out before you below the Longfellow bridge, remember how it all started, 80 winding miles away.

Charles River Sediment/Water Quality Project Analysis Report. EPA. 1997.

Echo Lake Fishing Near Hopkinton, Massachusetts. http://www.hookandbullet.com/fishing-echo-lake-hopkinton-ma/.

Myette, Charles F., and Alison C. Simcox. Water Resources and Aquifer Yields in the Charles River Basin, Massachusetts. USGS. 1992.