The Merrimack River Watershed Council is searching for a full-time lead scientist to run water quality investigations across the 5,000-square-mile watershed that includes Andover and North Andover.

The Lawrence-based nonprofit, known as MRWC, posted the position with a salary range of $85,000 to $100,000.

The Eagle-Tribune reported on the new role, describing it informally as a "Czar of Merrimack River Water Quality."

The hire matters locally. Andover draws its drinking water from the Merrimack, and nearly all combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges enter the river upstream of the treatment plants serving Andover and five other municipalities, according to MRWC's own data.

The new lead scientist will design and run two large-scale, multi-year investigations. One will target the sources of frequent high bacteria readings in the Lawrence Dam impoundment. The other will focus on Newburyport Harbor.

The scientist will also oversee baseline river monitoring, wet-and-dry weather research on how heavy rain drives bacteria levels, and smaller hot-spot studies. The position supervises a staff of three and a team of community scientist volunteers, reporting directly to MRWC Executive Director Curt Rogers.

The job comes after a record-setting stretch of sewage discharges. In 2023, five cities discharged more than 2 billion gallons of combined sewer overflow into the Merrimack, more than doubling the previous record of 823 million gallons set in 2021.

That year, the Merrimack absorbed 40% of all untreated sewage released statewide, according to two MRWC reports published in May 2024.

The problems continued into 2026. On July 7, the Town of Andover notified residents of an untreated wastewater release from the Lowell Wastewater Treatment Facility into the river.

Separately, a Haverhill sewer main failure this summer sent 8 million gallons of raw sewage daily into the Merrimack, forcing a 12-day closure of shellfish beds from Gloucester to Salisbury. Patch reported that Gov. Maura Healey delivered $300,000 in direct relief to affected North Shore shellfish harvesters.

MRWC, founded in 1976, received a $600,000 settlement from a U.S. Department of Justice-backed Clean Water Act case against Schnitzer Steel over pollution at metal scrapyards along the river, part of a larger settlement brought by the Conservation Law Foundation. "The damage done to the river cannot be undone," Rogers said at the time of that settlement. "However, the sizeable settlement sends a clear message to current polluters."

Andover has more than five miles of Merrimack shoreline and has partnered with Clean Harbors for three consecutive summers to install booms and remove floating trash. The Merrimack Valley Planning Commission also completed a two-year river cleanup pilot with Andover and four other communities, installing ten floating booms to capture debris before it reached the ocean.

The lead scientist posting lists no application deadline. Candidates need a bachelor's degree plus four years of relevant experience, or a master's plus two years. Applications with a cover letter go to [email protected] with the subject line "Lead Scientist." Applications without a cover letter will not be reviewed.