The amount of engineering done to remove sewage from the Charles River should mean that fecal bacteria can’t find their way into the river.
And yet they do.
One possible culprit is Man’s Best Friend(s)–or at least how some canine companions throw “away” the pooch poop (down the storm drain? Yup!)
But catching the culprits is difficult. One way to explain why the fecal coliform continue to bloom may be a map like this one, showing where the dogs live. Perhaps the blooms down-stormwater pipe from a popular pooch park could be connected with the (ir-)responsible dog walkers?
Well at least in Salem we have evidence of this.
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x674149604/Bacteria-detectives-on-the-job
A local group that I work with did this work last year and will be doing a followup this year. We know that this is a problem, and in this case lack of bags was identified as a possible solution. Maybe it will work maybe not but it was a good project with valuable lessons. Oh and don’t mind the comments some are from very very angry people. So could something similar be done in Newton? You bet! Even if we don’t outright map the dog owners we could identify popular walking spots or routes and outfit them with pooper bags (and media outreach) and monitor to see if they helps the problem or makes no impact.