Conservation efforts intended to restore natural flow levels to the Ipswich River got a boost last week when the federal Environmental Protection Agency awarded the state a $1 million grant.
Among the initiatives the funding will support are wireless water meters for Topsfield's 1,700 homes and an instruction bulletin for planting and maintaining "drought-proof" gardens that were recently planted at Masconomet Regional High School and the middle school campus in Boxford.
Named among the most stressed and impaired waterways in the country in 1997 by a national watchdog group, the Ipswich River is the source of drinking water for some 315,000 people in 15 communities in the region, according to Kerry Mackin, the executive director of the Ipswich River Water Association.
The Ipswich begins at headwaters in Burlington and continues for 40 miles out to the Atlantic in Ipswich. Communities that draw water from the river include Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Middleton, Peabody, Salem, Topsfield, and Wenham.
"We are delighted we have received this recognition because this comprehensive grant support will go a long way to expanding the efforts our group and our partner agencies have undertaken to improve the water quality of the Ipswich," Mackin said.
Flows drop to dangerous levels during hot and dry periods because too much water is being taken from the river for human consumption and what remains is insufficient to dilute and wash away pollutants such as lawn fertilizer and septic tank discharges that filter into the river, Mackin said.
Mackin said the river's fish population is the most stressed by the lack of water because fish die when low flows raise the water's temperature and force the oxygen level down. Low water volume also causes the river's riffles -- shallow, rocky, and turbulent sections -- to dry up. (Riffles provide a habitat for insects and aquatic animals that fish feed on.)
"Flow-dependent species such as brook trout and fallfish simply cannot survive in these conditions," she said.
Other water-dependent species such as otters and beavers are also threatened by the water's ill health.
Mackin said the EPA grant was written by Sara Cohen, a staffer at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, to encourage a cooperative effort by local communities, the state, federal government, and the Ipswich River Watershed Association. In addition to funding conservation programs, it focuses resources on projects that analyze and measure the success of those efforts. In addition to the Topsfield and Boxford initiatives, Wilmington will test water-permeable asphalt and North Reading will collect rain in barrels and cisterns, she said.
The federal Geological Survey will provide much of the monitoring of the river's overall health, Mackin said.
Bill Wood, the water superintendent in Topsfield, said he hopes that by replacing all of the 1970s vintage water metering devices in use in his town at a cost of $55,000 with units that include a wireless radio transmitter, town officials can subtly encourage conservation by providing water usage data in a more timely matter.
"As it stands now, because the meters must be read one-by-one by a visit to the house by a meter reader, we only bill two times a year because it takes six months to get to each one and then get out the bills," Wood said. "The new models we are looking at send a radio signal that can be read from a distance of 300 feet, so with the same staff we will be able to have the meter reader read the meters from his vehicle as he drives down the street. That means we'll be able to generate a bill once a month and people will be paying a bill based on the amount of water they used the previous month."
Because lawns are a major source of stress to the river, both in their demand for water and their demand for fertilizers and chemical pest controls, Mackin said her agency is designing educational materials that explain how the home gardener can save water.
"We planted a low-impact demonstration eco-garden at entrances to the Masconomet Regional High School and middle school in Boxford with a $15,000 grant from Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management in June," Mackin said. "We are planning to use the EPA funds to publish and distribute a brochure which explains how to plant with the native species and other low water users in home gardens."
Proposed last December by Topsfield's conservation agent, Lana Spillman, the garden includes bee balm, blueberry, cranberry viburnum, day lilies, and asters, Mackin said.
David Deegan, a spokesman for the EPA, said the Ipswich River Watershed proposal was among 14 funded from 115 nominations nationally.
Caroline Louise Cole can be reached at cole@globe.com.