Charles River Watershed Association Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Stormwater solutions - under this program, crwa plans, designs, implements and promotes green infrastructure approaches, or nature-based solutions, for managing water in the urban environment. Crwa also advocates for better management of stormwater at the property-, municipal-, and regional-level to improve water quality and mitigate flooding. Through research, design, and implementation of demonstration projects on public and private properties, the organization's goal is to mimic, or re-create, natural hydrology at the sub-watershed scale, making land and water once again work together. These projects are models for better site design, provide public realm benefits, serve to educate the public on the importance of storm water management, reduce pollution and flooding, and provide developers and local boards with information on low impact development.river science program - crwa collects robust water quality data to understand the health of the river, identify emerging threats, advocate for effective cleanup and restoration strategies, and protect public health. Several important components of this program are:* volunteer monthly monitoring - the organization's long-running comprehensive study of water quality in the charles involves a large network of volunteer citizen scientists who collect water samples monthly all along the length of the river. Crwa has established one of the most extensive water quality data sets for any river in the nation. This monitoring informs crwa's science, research, and advocacy. The data is used by numerous researchers, policy makers and students and serves as the basis for the annual charles river report card issued by the u.s. Epa. The organization also issues an annual report on its water quality monitoring results. Crwa also conducts macroinvertebrate sampling and analysis for assessing ecosystem health of stream segments.* lower charles water quality flagging - from april through october, boaters from watertown to boston are apprised of real-time water quality forecasts through crwa color-coded flags flown at multiple boating locations in the lower basin. Crwa uses a predictive model based on a variety of environmental factors, including weather data collected by a weather station in the lower basin. This information is posted on crwa's website and distributed by email, social media, and other sources as needed. E.coli bacteria data is collected on a regular basis during this time to verify model predictions. Cyanobacteria blooms are closely monitored and tracked, cso events are also tracked and documented.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 51.3%; rating input score 51
• Program expense ratio: 73.3%; rating input score 73
• Fundraising efficiency: $11.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 32.7%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.04; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 8.9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings