Talk:Charles River

message: Good to see some content here about efforts (misguided or not) to improve the environment in and around the Charles, but much of this content is presented with a clear POV bias.  A more balanced presentation based on published, verifiable facts is necessary to conform to WP:NPOV it seems. --ScottMainwaring 00:29, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Remediation controversies 

message: If I recall correctly, the bridge just downstream of the Watertown Dam bears writings which claim that the river was named the Massachusetts River (by John Smith), and then renamed the Charles River by order of the then-Prince Charles.  Now, I'm not claiming that a bridge should really count as a Reliable Source.  I mean, it's just a bridge, what can it know?..  but anyone who is interested in the English naming of the river may want to look into this anyway. - 18.252.7.52 00:06, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It's true! I just added this with a good reference. However I called Charles "king".. I guess technically he was still the prince heir apparent at the time. Not sure how to say that tersely, it is almost besides the point, no? Pfly (talk) 21:32, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Charles, at age 15, may "tersely" and accurately be said to be Prince Charles, as Karl Haglund notes in his Inventing the Charles River (MIT Press, 2003), page 5. Since Charles was not made King of Great Britain and Ireland until 1625 (The New Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 3, Micropedia, p. 112), designating him "king" at age 15 is clearly incorrect. Jwhitman (talk) 23:02, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

text: See Dirty Water for one example.  Explanation: "all your life" isn't long enough. :-D  - Denimadept (talk) 01:11, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Naming History 

message: How can Waltham have been the site of the first factory when the very next paragraph says that a canal for water power was created in the 1600s?  What's the definition of "factory" which allows the first statement? - Denimadept 19:28, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I can't speak for whoever first wrote it, but as it stands the article says that Waltham had the first "fully integrated textile factory in America." I assume that in this context "fully integrated" means that the mill combined spinning and weaving (and possibly other processes, such as carding and fulling) in the same facility. That claim seems plausible to me, though it's unsourced. Spinning and weaving were mostly cottage industries until the 18th century even in England, and the colonies were a couple of decades behind the mother country in many aspects of their economic development. My guess is that the 17th-century mills the article refers to were sawmills and grist mills. 65.213.77.129 (talk) 17:27, 4 March 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Fair enough. - Denimadept (talk) 18:03, 4 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Early History 

message: A Radio Boston special on the river mentioned a project in 1634 to put the river (or part thereof?) into a ditch?  Anyone know what that's about? -- Beland (talk) 00:36, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  More early history 

message: Where is :Category:Charles River? --Mr Accountable (talk) 21:38, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Looks like it's implicit.  Looking at the category page, it knows its principal article is Charles River. - Denimadept (talk) 22:41, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Category 

message: Water taken from Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the street from MicroCenter store at noon, 6.24.12:
(yesterday)
* No bad smell whatsoever
* Ammonia: 0
* Nitrate: 0
* Nitrite: 0
* Hardness: 75
* Chlorine: 0
* Alkalinity: 80
* pH: 6.8
* Phosphates: 0
Testing was done at PetSmart in the Aquarium department at the Fresh Pond Mall, with the Phosphate test done with a separate test kit. There had been a huge rain storm the previous day.
--Radical Mallard (talk) 23:27, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Water Test Results June 24 2012 

message: (Response to above water test information)
From: charles (AT) crwa.org
CC: jwood (AT) crwa.org; aash (AT) crwa.org
Subject: RE: Tested Charles River Water Yesterday
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:11:44 -0400
Thanks for your interest in the water quality of  the Charles River.   
The fish kits at the PetSmart are designed for use with tap water, so the scale might not be tailored to use with river water.  We test the water monthly year round and bi-weekly in the summer, you can find some of our data here http://www.crwa.org/water_quality/monthly/monthly.html
As to your question about what is polluting the water, one of the big problems is with bacteria levels (ecoli particularly) that come from sewage that gets into the river when the sewers overflow after a heavy storm and from other sources.  As I’m sure you know high levels of certain bacteria found in sewage can cause people to get sick.  The swimming and fishing standards that you mentioned are based primarily on bacteria levels.  You can find more information about boating and swimming standards here http://www.crwa.org/water_quality.html#overview In addition high levels of cyanobacteria (often called blue green algae, but they are in fact bacteria) produce toxins which can be harmful on contact or ingestion.  You can find more information on that here http://www.crwa.org/water_quality/algae.html Stormwater carrying high levels of nutrients (mostly phosphorous) contributes to this problem as the cyanobacteria require phosphorus to grow. 
There are fish populations in the Charles River.  As water quality has and continues to improve, the fish populations continue to grow.  Some challenges for fish include low dissolved oxygen levels in some areas of the river and getting over the dams that are still in the Charles River. 
We are working with MA Fish and Game to restock the American Shad population.  You can find more information about that project here.  This Friday at 2:00 pm you can watch them restock the fish if you are interested. http://www.crwa.org/index.php
As to chemicals, as you may know, there are various heavy metals on the floor of the river in the lower basin of the Charles River.  For the most part they stay put, but if something stirred them up they could cause problems. 
You are right that a lot of the problems from the ‘90’s which made the river smelly and off color have been addressed thanks to a lot of hard work by CRWA, citizens, government agencies, and companies, but there is still a lot of work left to be done.  Polluted stormwater carrying bacteria, nutrients, and other pollutants is one of the biggest current causes of the water quality problems. 
I hope this answered your questions.  Let me know if you have any more questions and  you can visit our website for lots more information. www.charlesriver.org
If you are interested in becoming part of our citizen water quality monitoring program http://www.crwa.org/water_quality/monthly/volunteer_form.html and testing water monthly with our tools then let us know! 
Thanks!
Alexandra   
Alexandra Ash
Office Administrator and Events Coordinator
Charles River Watershed Association
190 Park Road
Weston, MA 02493
Phone: (781) 788-0007 ext. 200
Fax: (781) 788-0057
(end of letter)
--Radical Mallard (talk) 20:17, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Response Letter from Charles River Watershed Association 

message: The article says that the Charles originates at Echo Lake. Yet the Google map labels one of the rivers flowing into the Lake from the north as the Charles River. What gives? JKeck (talk) 02:12, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: GNIS agrees with you. According to , the source of the Charles River is , which is somewhat north of Echo Lake. Pfly (talk) 05:42, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I suggest fixing the article.  - Denimadept (talk) 17:55, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I noticed this error myself then came here to see it had already been discussed... but not fixed in two years. So it's fixed now. - 24.62.170.82 (talk) 20:02, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Good!  Thanks. - Denimadept (talk) 23:23, 25 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Real Source of the Charles? 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: John Smith explored "Northern Virginia" and presented his Map of "New England" To King James the first in 1614. King James requested that his son PRINCE Charles could help transfer names of England to Smith's map of New England. Smith was given the title of Admiral of New England for his map. Charles does not become KING or "Charles the first" until long after he names a river after himself. 
Wolfdog1940 (talk) 00:22, 3 October 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  John Smith/Charles river 

message: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Compson A character from The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner was commemorated on the Anderson Memorial Bridge across this river. Perhaps it should be mentioned  here? 117.223.177.202 (talk) 08:22, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Request to add link or mention 

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thread_title:  External links modified