“Neponset Day’ is coming up this weekend (Sun., July 30) at Neponset II Park by Granite Ave with free paddling, music, and family activities. Our organization, the Neponset River Watershed Association, is dedicated to cleaning up and protecting the Neponset River. We love nothing better than to see the big smiles on kids’ faces at Neponset Day, as they shove off from the shore in a kayak into the river, many for the first time.

There has been incredible progress over the last few years in turning the Neponset River into the kind of natural and recreational resource that the residents of Dorchester need and deserve. With Neponset Day coming up, it’s a good time to reflect on how far we’ve come and the important work that remains.

State investments in building the Neponset Greenway Trail, Neponset Park, Pope John Paul Park, and Finnegan Park have paid off handsomely, and transformed the river into a recreational destination enjoyed by hundreds of Dorchester residents and others every day.

Construction is already well underway on the newest section of the Greenway trail, the so-called “northern extension,” that will link Tenean Beach directly and safely to Morrisey Boulevard, finally uniting the trail all the way into Downtown Boston via the Boston Harborwalk.

Work on extending the Greenway is also proceeding in the other direction, with planning underway to connect the trail to the Blue Hills from its current dead-end in Hyde Park, and to fill in long neglected key missing links in Mattapan and Hyde Park that will stitch these neighborhoods together with new trails and pedestrian bridges.

The cleanup of contaminated sediments on the bottom of the river, a legacy of its industrial past, is also moving along in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park under the leadership of the US Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to last year’s “Superfund” designation. Contaminated soils are already being removed from several key areas in Hyde Park where the contamination is highest, and detailed testing will get underway all the way down to Lower Mills next year.

Water quality in the river has improved dramatically over recent decades, with water at the river’s mouth consistently meeting swimmable water quality standards. While areas farther upstream now often meet swimmable standards, more work is needed to find and repair problems in the City of Boston’s sewer and drainage systems. Public and private investments are also needed to intercept and clean up polluted runoff from streets and parking lots that impact the river during rainstorms.

Tenean Beach and the river itself are heavily impacted by this polluted runoff, but a swimmable Neponset is in reach for residents of Dorchester, and more important than ever as climate change increases the need for all of us to find new ways to cool off. Cities around the world are successfully investing in making urban rivers swimmable again, the latest example being along the Seine in Paris. Boston should be no exception.

Lastly, we are working to restore the ecological health of the river and its salt marshes. These unique habitats support an amazing diversity of resident and migratory fish, birds, and other wildlife right here in Dorchester. Our salt marshes and other wetlands also help protect nearby development by buffering the effects of coastal storms and freshwater flooding. But climate change and rising seas will convert the Neponset’s salt marshes into mudflats over the next 50 years unless we take action to actively manage and protect them so that they can continue helping to protect us and the wildlife that depend on them.

Dorchester has always been home to some of the most passionate advocates for a clean, healthy, and accessible Neponset River. We have been honored to work on river issues with such an amazing group of people, gratified by the impressive progress in reclaiming it as a resource for all residents of Dorchester, and we are excited to continue that work and address new challenges in the years ahead.

Ian Cooke is the executive director of the Neponset River Watershed Association. Neponset Day will be held on Sun., June 30, from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. at Neponset II Park, Granite Avenue and Hilltop Street, Dorchester. See Neponset.org/neponsetday for more info.