News
At Town Meeting on May 2, voters will decide whether or not to adopt the Specialized Stretch energy code (Specialized code). The Specialized code is an overlay to town’s current energy code that adds requirements in new homes when fossil fuels are installed and improves the energy efficiency of...
• Snow can help replenish groundwater—but only under the right conditions.
• If the ground is frozen, or if snow melts quickly, much of that water runs off into streams and rivers instead of soaking into the soil.
• This winter, conditions limited how much moisture reached the ground, contributing...
• Snow can help replenish groundwater—but only under the right conditions.
• If the ground is frozen, or if snow melts quickly, much of that water runs off into streams and rivers instead of soaking into the soil.
• This winter, conditions limited how much moisture reached the ground, contributing...
• Early spring is often one of the highest fire-risk periods in New England.
• Before new growth appears, last year’s leaves, grass, and brush dry out quickly, creating ideal fuel. Combined with dry soil and wind, fires can spread more easily than many people expect.
• Local officials are...
• Drought is not based on rainfall alone. State officials track a combination of factors, including soil moisture, groundwater levels, streamflow, and precipitation over time.
• In Massachusetts, conditions are typically described in stages such as Mild, Moderate, Significant, and Critical....
There have been a few brush fires this season, one on Hill Road and another on Dan Parker Road.
State Drought Status Highlights Gap Between Snowfall and Water Supply
Shorty: So… we had all that snow, right? The kind that piles up along the stone walls and makes you think spring will come soaked and easy. But what if snow isn’t really “water” in the way we need it? Not for wells, not for...
The Groton Greenway Committee voted unanimously at its April 8 meeting to oppose the warrant article to repair the West Groton Dam on the Squannacook River, and to recommend that the Select Board pursue dam removal instead.
The committee, established in 1989 at the request of the Nashua River...
Shorty says: “I am the result of genocide,” Spotted Crow said. It sounds like a line meant to provoke. But after hearing the family stories behind it, it feels less like provocation… and more like lived history.
About 100 Groton residents packed the Groton Center on West Main Street last...
Shorty says: So let me get this straight. We want the schools funded, the roads fixed, police and fire fully staffed . . . but we don’t want smaller lots, more neighbors, or anything that actually looks different? Then where’s the money coming from? Because if we’re not willing to change anything...
The Ipswich Mills Dam and fish ladder
by Russ Harris
People driving through small Massachusetts towns pass them every day without much notice or care.
A quiet pond in town. A low stone or concrete dam across a narrow river. Sometimes a converted mill building nearby, now apartments or offices.
Once you start looking for them,...