Charles River Finalist for International Prize: [VIDEO]

The Charles River, a portion of which runs through Milford, is one of three finalists for an international environmental prize that recognizes the efforts made at restoring the waterway.

The Thiess International Riverprize is awarded annually by the Brisbane, Australia-based International RiverFoundation. The application was made by the Charles River Watershed Association, a Weston-based organization that was formed in 1965.

When the watershed association was founded, the Charles River, according to an association press release: "commonly ran in colors, depending on the paint being manufactured on it banks. Swimming was banned, sewage overflows were common, and outfalls discharged industrial waste. Rowers who fell into the river routinely received tetanus shots and antibiotics as late as the middle 1990s."

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers the Charles River among the cleanest urban rivers in the United States, wrote Robert Zimmerman, the watershed association's executive director.

The river runs through the center of Boston, and through 23 towns and cities in Massachusetts.

The grand prize, to be awarded in September, in Australia, includes $250,000 in cash and a $100,000 grant to share river restoration expertise with another river.

Past winners of the prize included organizations revitalizing the Thames and the Danube rivers.