BEWARE! Alewife Brook flooded yesterday, making the Greenway path impassible. Actually, we stopped one jogger from running into that contaminated water. He was determined not to continue. But there are PCBs, PAHs, and heavy metals in the brook sediment.Submitted by SaveTheAlewifeBrook t3_zu9v07 in CambridgeMA
ret_diy t1_j23ohq1 wrote
Reply to comment by SaveTheAlewifeBrook in BEWARE! Alewife Brook flooded yesterday, making the Greenway path impassible. Actually, we stopped one jogger from running into that contaminated water. He was determined not to continue. But there are PCBs, PAHs, and heavy metals in the brook sediment. by SaveTheAlewifeBrook
I don't think it reverses flow during typical flood events -- only if the Amelia Earhart dam in Everett is overtopped by rising sea level / storm surge, which would make the Mystic River flow in reverse.
SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j23st3u wrote
I’ve seen the Alewife reverse direction during major storm events, with no breach at the Amelia Earhart Dam. What happens is the Mystic River rises above the height of the Alewife and then tailwater from the Mystic fills the Alewife Brook and it reverses direction. For reference, this is documented in the Tri-Community Working Group Final Report from 2005. This statement is not meant to underplay the seriousness of a breach of the dam. But it’s important to understand how slow the Alewife Basin is and that the Alewife does reverse direction in large storms.
SaveTheAlewifeBrook OP t1_j23u07t wrote
Here’s a link to the Tri-Community Working Group document
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