Rivers show signs of peril

Rowley's Mill River has a problem.

So does the Ipswich, Parker, Assabet, Ware, and dozens of other rivers throughout the state.

They've got the wrong fish.

For the past seven years, state biologists have worked the banks of Massachusetts rivers with notebooks and underwater electric wands, zapping everything within a 6-foot radius and making note of the fish that are too dazed to swim away.

What they are finding is the state's insatiable thirst for clean, fresh water is drawing down its rivers and streams to the point where indigenous fish are beginning to disappear. These include fallfish and the black-nosed dace.

''We're not seeing river fish in these rivers. We're seeing pond fish," said Todd Richards, an aquatic biologist with the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

''A lot of our rivers, especially in the eastern part of the state, have fish communities that need a lot of help and these fish communities are an indicator of the biological health of these rivers."

The problem is most acute in Eastern Massachusetts, where development draws on the underground water supplies that rivers depend on to make it through the summer months, according to Richards.

The Ipswich River has been so depleted that in 2003 it was declared the nation's third most endangered, according to an annual survey by American Rivers, a national nonprofit conservation group. During summer months, whole sections have dried up, turning the river into a string of stagnant pools.

Richards and his crew have been assigned to assess how these conditions affect fish and produce a plan to restore the rivers.

Carrying battery-powered backpacks, the state biologists swish an electrified, dinner plate-sized aluminum ring along river bottoms, sending out a 300-volt current that stuns nearby fish long enough to be netted. They count and measure the fish before returning them to the water.

Funded almost entirely by state hunting and fishing license fees, Richards and a crew of about seven state staff -- usually with a volunteer or two -- have inventoried dozens of state rivers and the larger streams this way since 1998.

By the end of summer, Richards hopes to have surveyed the last of the state's major rivers and streams and to begin the analysis. The official results will not be ready until Jan.1, but years of slogging through streams have given Richards and his crew a good idea of how bad the problem is.

''These fish are the canaries in the coal mine," said Pat Huckery, head of the division's Acton office and a member of Richards's northeast stream team. ''If you're going into a river and you're not finding any of the right species, then you know that river is pretty distressed."

During a recent half-hour scan of a 75-foot section of the Mill River, Richards and his crew found several dozen white suckers, half as many eels -- both lamprey and American, a red-finned pickerel, and a banded killy fish.

Most are native to the stream but several other species that should be present were not. None of the fish caught were older than a year, another indication the river is not doing well, Richards said.

The summer sun heats the slow-moving streams to 75 degrees or more -- too hot for species that need faster, cooler waters to survive. As summertime water demands increase, the river becomes downright dangerous for fish.

''The fish are naturally heading into a summertime struggle for survival, and we're just making it harder for them" with excess water consumption, Richards said.

The state's work is being applauded by at least two organizations concerned with troubled rivers in the state's northeast corner. The Ipswich River Watershed Association says the state's study has found dramatic shifts in the types of fish that call that river home.

''This work documenting the fish community is a cornerstone in the efforts to restore the Ipswich River to health," said Kerry Mackin, the association's executive director. ''When compared to prior fish surveys, the decline in these species is very apparent."

A few miles north, the 21-mile-long Parker River, which runs from west Boxford to the Great Marsh in Newbury, is having its own flow problems.

The Parker River Clean Water Association has found the slow summer flows promote weed growth, which further slow an already sluggish river, according to association president Don Bade.

''The vegetation along the rivers becomes thicker and harder to navigate when you've got low flow," he said. ''And as things dry out more, they quickly become overgrown."

It is hoped that the state's inventory of river and stream fish will aid efforts to get the waters flowing again. Possible remedies could include tearing down useless dams or unclogging culverts.

The study could also provide proof that these fish and the rivers they swim in are entitled to legal state or federal protection.

''This work has serious regulatory importance," Huckery said. ''Fisheries management is protected under the Wetlands Protection Act. If there are endangered species involved, the Endangered Species Act gets involved. There's also the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Act."

More important still, Richards said, is letting people know how troubled the rivers and streams really are and what they can do about it. Each summer, water use skyrockets at a time when rivers and streams can least afford it, he said. Something as simple as not watering your lawn can make a big difference.

''It's not just a matter of the white suckers being more important than a green lawn," Richards said. ''It's a matter of exchanging biological integrity for cosmetic landscaping. . . . Rivers should not have the same kinds of fish as ponds."