Milton and Canton sit at the center of a new $101,305 state-funded partnership aiming to fix a problem centuries in the making: aging dams, undersized culverts, and damaged wetlands scattered across 428 square miles of the Charles and Neponset River watersheds.

The Canton-based Neponset River Watershed Association and the Charles River Watershed Association announced the Metro Boston Partnership Thursday, backed by the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration. It's one of six statewide grants totaling more than $1 million, and one of just three funding entirely new partnerships. "The Neponset Watershed and greater Metro Boston region have experienced massive landscape changes over the last 400 years due to industrialization and, later, suburban sprawl," said Sean McCanty, NepRWA's river restoration director. "As a result, our cities and towns are burdened with defunct and degrading dams, undersized culverts, and damaged wetlands."

McCanty said the partnership will help identify and advance restoration projects that reduce flooding risk and improve fish and wildlife habitat across both watersheds — work spanning Milton, Canton and 12 other Neponset communities. Amber Siegel, CRWA's senior restoration manager, said the funding lets both organizations move faster on culvert replacements, dam removals and wetland restoration across their overlapping territory, benefiting residents and habitats on both sides of the watershed line. No timeline has been set yet for choosing the first project sites; for now, the funding supports planning and regional coordination to build a pipeline of high-impact projects.

Gov. Maura Healey said the partnerships program gives communities tools to protect neighborhoods from flooding and restore wildlife habitat, while DER Director Beth Lambert said it's building a statewide network of regional partners equipped to lead restoration work locally.

The partnership area overlaps with the Lower Neponset River Superfund Site in Hyde Park and Milton, where a separate $80 million cleanup is already underway, with construction expected to start in 2027 — meaning this stretch of the watershed is getting attention from multiple directions at once.

Milton and Canton residents can join NepRWA's Resilient Neponset Community Action Team, a climate resilience program running through June 2027, at neponset.org/community-engagement or by calling 781-575-0354.