At the Essex National Heritage Commission’s annual gathering, Executive Director Annie Harris surprised our own Wayne Castonguay by presenting him with the 2022 Pioneer in Partnership Award.
The Pioneer in Partnership Award is presented annually to a member of the Essex County Community, to an individual or organization that exemplifies working collaboratively towards a collective purpose. It was given to Wayne for his leadership in helping to forge the first ever Charter Agreement for the North Shore Water Resiliency Task Force. Its mission is to improve water supply resilience and ecosystem health in the Ipswich River Watershed.
Says Wayne “I could not be more pleased and humbled to receive this award from such terrific partners at ENHC. Really though the credit goes out to the 18 cities and towns that came together for this common cause and for Task Force Convener Senator Bruce Tarr and the entire State Legislative delegation for making this happen.”
This photo above is of the assembly at the signing, including IRWA’s executive director, Wayne Castonguay.
Huge news for the Ipswich River!
On Wednesday, September 28, an historic agreement to protect the Ipswich River was signed. The agreement, which was 6 years in the making, is the first charter agreement of the North Shore Water Resiliency Task Force. It establishes a framework and ground rules between the Ipswich River Watershed Association and all cities and towns in the watershed or deriving water from it. This is a very important milestone in our effort to protect the Ipswich River Watershed. The agreement is a collaborative effort to improve water supply resilience AND ecosystem health in the watershed. It is the first time that that every city and town and IRWA has agreed in writing on the need to address both issues equally and simultaneously. The Task Force is being led by Senator Bruce Tarr and convened by all 24 members of the State Legislative delegation that serve these communities. It is supported by 26 official stakeholder organizations.
Historic Ipswich 