Monitoring the Flood of 2010

NEWEA Conference January 24th, 2011 Catherine Oliver and Christine Comeau Narragansett Bay Commission March 2010 Total Monthly Precipitation

Narragansett Bay Watershed

www.water.weather.gov

EPA Office of Watersheds, Oceans, & Watersheds Storm & Monitoring Timeline Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday River Fecals 2/22 0.78" 2/23 1.80" 2/24 1.42" 2/25 2/26 2/27 Bay Fecals River & Bay Nutrients WWTFs 2/28 3/1 3/2 3/3 3/4 3/5 3/6

3/7 3/8 3/9 3/10 3/11 3/12 1.90" 3/13

1.28" 3/14 0.50" 3/15 3/16 3/17 3/18 3/19 3/20

3/21 3/22 3.30" 3/23 3/24 3/25 0.21" 3/26 3/27

3/28 3.47" 3/29 5.32" 3/30 3/31 4/1 4/2 4/3

4/4 4/5 4/6 4/7 4/8 0.93" 4/9 4/10

4/11 4/12 4/13 4/14 4/15 0.41" 4/16 0.11" 4/17

4/18 4/19 4/20 4/21 0.38" 4/22 4/23 4/24

0.16" 4/25 4/26 0.11" 4/27 4/28 4/29 4/30 5/1

5/2 0.36" 5/3 0.10" 5/4 5/5 5/6 5/7 0.84" 5/8 NBC Plant Performance

 NBC’s facilities performed well, treating more water than ever before.  There were no major equipment failures during or after the storm

 On 3/31, Field’s Point record-breaking influent flow of 150 MGD (average daily flow is approx. 45 MGD)

 On 3/31 Bucklin Point influent flow was 112 MGD(average daily flow is approx. 28 MGD)

 Increased March & April influent flows over previous years:  BP influent 26%; FP influent 21%

 Tunnel - The CSO tunnel was full (65 million gallons) by 1:00 PM on Monday, March 30  The tunnel captured 263 MG from 3/13/10 – 3/29/10

 Fecals: All final effluent fecals were well within compliance  WW Fecals daily geomean ranged from 2 – 877 MPN/100 mL between 2/2410 – 4/7/10)

 Nutrients: BP Influent TN loading increased by 19%, FP by 9%, BP effluent TN loading increased by 14%; FP effluent TN loading increased by 17%.

River & WWTF Locations

Blackstone River ´ Moshassuck River

TenRiver Mile

West River

Woonasquatucket River

Seekonk River Seekonk

(! NBC Bucklin Point

(! NBC Fields Point

Taunton River Pawtuxet River Providence River

(! Cranston WWTF (! Warwick WWTF (! West Warwick WWTF

Conditional Shellfishing Areas

1 inch = 12,609.811704 feet 0 3,7007,400 14,800 Feet Photo courtesy of J. Burke Warwick Wastewater Treatment Plant Treatment Plant Failures  Record-breaking rain caused flooding and failure at several treatment facilities south of Providence.  All located on the Pawtuxet River  Millions of gallons of untreated raw sewage entered river  Tuesday 3/30  Both Warwick and West Warwick Treatment plants are flooded by Pawtuxet River and evacuated; operations are shut down completely  Pumping stations are flooded and not operational

 Temporary disinfection at both plants begins 4/3/10  Secondary treatment started on 4/24/10 at West Warwick and 6/8/10 at Warwick  Biological nutrient removal process operational on 6/19/10 at Warwick and 7/25/10 at West Warwick

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo  Cranston WWTF  WWTF remained in operation but largest pumping station overwhelmed on morning of 3/31/10  Estimated that ~40 MGD of untreated sewage and stormwater was diverted into the Pawtuxet and Pocasset Rivers.  Pump station operational on 4/2/10

Woonasquatucket River Providence, RI

Photo by Narragansett Bay Commission Nutrient Sampling  NBC conducts routine bimonthly nutrient monitoring as part of its receiving water monitoring program.  Parameters: NO2NO3; NO2; NH3; Orthophosphate; Silicate; TSS; Total Dissolved Nitrogen; Chl a

 After such a historic rainfall and subsequent flooding NBC saw this as a good opportunity to do a more detailed study.

 195 river and bay nutrient samples taken (104 river and 91 bay) at 7 river sites and 6 bay sites

 Sample dates 3/16 – 3/19; 3/22, 3/31, 4/2, 4/6, 4/8, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/6 River Nutrient Sampling Locations Local and Border Rivers Total Dissolved Nitrogen Loading Blackstone River at Stateline

40,000 Blackstone River at Slater Dam 35,000 Ten Mile River at outlet of Omega Pond Moshassuck River

30,000 Woonasquatucket River

25,000 Pawtuxet River

Taunton River 20,000

15,000 TDN Loading (lbs/day) Loading TDN 10,000

5,000

0 Local and Border Rivers Total Dissolved Nitrogen Loading

3/16/2010 (day after rainfall ended 3.68 inches) 3/22/2010 (1 week after rainfall ended) 3/31/2010 (day after rainfall ended 8.79 inches) 4/6/2010 (1 week after rainfall ended) 4/12/2010 (2weeks) 4/19/2010 (3 weeks) 45,000 4/26/2010 (4 weeks) 5/6/2010 (5 1/2) weeks Historical Overall Average

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000 Total Dissolved Nitrogen Loading(lbs/day) Nitrogen Dissolved Total 5,000

0 Blackstone River at Blackstone River at Ten Mile River Moshassuck River Woonasquatucket Pawtuxet River Taunton River Stateline Slater Dam River Blackstone River Cumberland/Lincoln, RI

Photo from NOAA: www.erh.noaa.gov/nerfc/basin_info/WOOR1_flood.html Blackstone River – Flow and TDN Loading 12,000 45,000 River Flow BR Stateline

River Flow BR Slater Dam 40,000 10,000 Historical River Flow BR st Stateline Historical River Flow BR 35,000 Slater Dam TDN Loading BR Stateline

8,000 30,000 (lbs/day)Loading TDN

TDN Loading BR Slater Dam

Historical TDN Loading BR 25,000 Stateline 6,000 Historical TDN Loading BR Slater Dam

20,000 River Flow (mgd) Flow River

4,000 15,000

10,000 2,000 5,000

0 0 3/1/2010 3/8/2010 3/15/2010 3/22/2010 3/29/2010 4/5/2010 4/12/2010 4/19/2010 4/26/2010 5/3/2010 Warwick WWTF

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

www.googlemaps.com Pawtuxet River – Flow and TDN Loading 9,000 35,000 River Flow

8,000 Historical River Flow 30,000 TDN Loading 7,000 Historical TDN Loading 25,000

6,000 (lbs/day)Loading TDN

20,000 5,000

4,000

15,000 Rievr Flow (mgd) Flow Rievr

3,000 10,000

2,000

5,000 1,000

0 0 3/1/2010 3/8/2010 3/15/2010 3/22/2010 3/29/2010 4/5/2010 4/12/2010 4/19/2010 4/26/2010 5/3/2010 Taunton River – Flow and TDN Loading 4,000 18,000 River Flow

3,500 Historical River 16,000 Flow TDN Loading 14,000 3,000 Historical TDN Loading

12,000 (lbs/day)Loading TDN

2,500

10,000 2,000 8,000

Rievr Flow (mgd) Flow Rievr 1,500 6,000

1,000 4,000

500 2,000

0 0 3/1/2010 3/8/2010 3/15/2010 3/22/2010 3/29/2010 4/5/2010 4/12/2010 4/19/2010 4/26/2010 5/3/2010 Conclusions – River Nutrients  2010 March – April river flow: Percent above historical March – April river flow (USGS dataset)  Blackstone River at Woonsocket 46% Blackstone River at Slater Dam 44%  Pawtuxet River 66% Taunton River 53%

 TDN loading was 149% - 295% on 3/16 and 131% - 823% on 3/31 above average wet weather total dissolved nitrogen loading overall

 By 4/26 (3-4 weeks after rainfall ended)all locations had retuned to within normal ranges of nutrient loading, except Pawtuxet River

 Pawtuxet River: highest % of increase above average wet weather TDN loading.  823% above average wet weather TDN loading at its peak (3/31)  Longest to recover - not back to within historical TDN loading until ~ 5/6/10

 Reasons for increased nitrogen loading?  Highest nitrogen concentrations were measured on 5/6 though nitrogen loadings had all returned to normal by this date.  Extremely high river flow  High nutrient runoff from watershed  No vegetation on land; saturated land cover  Failure of WWTFs along the Pawtuxet River Bay Nutrient Sampling Locations

Pawtuxet River Upper Narragansett Bay Total Dissolved Nitrogen Concentrations 1,600 3/10/2010 3/17/2010 3/18/2010 3/19/2010 3/22/2010 3/31/2010 1,400 4/2/2010 4/6/2010 4/8/2010 4/12/2010 4/19/2010 4/26/2010 1,200

5/6/2010 Historical Avg (March - early May)

1,000

800

600 TDn Concentration(ppb) TDn 400

200

0 Phillipsdale India Point Pomham Rocks Edgewood Bullocks Reach Conimicut Landing Park Yacht Club Point Conclusions – Bay Nutrients  Of the six locations sampled, Bullock’s Reach and Conimicut Point averaged 34% and 39% above historical March-April concentrations.  By 5/6/10 concentrations were back to average TDN concentrations

 The other four sites averaged 25% - 44% below historical March – April TDN concentrations.

 Reason for differences?  freshwater river dilution to the north  and the effect of high nutrient loading coming from the Pawtuxet River to the south.

 The Pawtuxet River was highly affected by the failure of two wastewater treatment facilities, where normal nutrient removal operations were not completely re-established until mid June

Fecal Coliform Bacteria Monitoring  Urban rivers - normally sampled once/week on Mondays and Tuesdays

 Historic rainfall 3/29-3/30, WWTFs severely affected 3/30

 Additional sampling in each river on 4/1, 4/5, 4/7 and 4/9 (with regular sampling still done on 4/6 and 4/8)

 Pawtuxet River sampled daily 4/1-4/16 (except 4/2)

 73 river samples taken as part of storm monitoring Bacteria Monitoring Results Fecal Coliform in Area Rivers 100000 Rain Woon River 2/23-2/25 – 4.0" Mosh River 3/13-3/15 – 3.7" West River 3/23 – 3.3" 3/26 – 0.21" Prov River 10000 3/29-3/30 – 8.79“ Blackstone River

4/9 – 0.93" Pawtuxet River Primary Contact Criterion 1000

100 Fecal Coliform (MPN/100 ml) (MPN/100 Coliform Fecal

10

1 3/8-3/9 3/15-3/22 3/23-3/25 3/29-3/30 4/6-4/9 4/12-4/13 Bacteria Monitoring Results 3/8-3/9 Fecal Coliform in Area Rivers 3/15-3/22 100000 3/23-3/25 3/29-3/30 4/1 4/5 10000 4/6-4/9

4/12-4/13 Historical Wet Weather Average Primary Contact Criterion 1000

100 Fecal Coliform (MPN/100 ml) (MPN/100 Coliform Fecal 10

1 West River Mosh River Woon River Blackstone River Pawtuxet River Bacteria Monitoring Results Conclusions of River Bacteria Monitoring  Most rivers - highest bacteria levels during the historic storm (3/29-3/30)

 Pawtuxet River - highest the week after the storm

 Most rivers reached 8-56 times historic wet weather bacteria levels on highest day; Pawtuxet close to 100 times historic wet weather bacteria levels

 Most rivers returned to normal dry weather bacteria levels the week after the storm

 The Pawtuxet did not return to historic

Photo courtesy of J. Burke dry weather levels until 13 days after the Warwick Wastewater Treatment Plant storm Fecal Coliform Bacteria Monitoring  Bay sites - normally sampled bimonthly

 Additional sampling done on 4/1, 4/5, 4/7, 4/9

 Additional stations - RIDEM’s Conditional Shellfishing Area sampled on 4/1, 4/5, 4/7, 4/9

 139 Bay samples taken as part of storm monitoring

Bay Sampling Areas

Seekonk River

Upper Providence River

Pawtuxet River

Lower Providence River

Conditional Shellfishing Areas Bacteria Monitoring Results 3/25/2010 Fecal Coliform in Upper Bay 4/1/10 4/5/10 10000 4/7/10 4/9/10 Historical Wet Weather Ave Primary Contact Criterion Shellfishing Criterion 1000

100

Concentration (MPN/100 ml) (MPN/100 Concentration

10

Coliform Fecal Fecal

1 Seekonk River Upper Providence River Lower Providence River Conditional Areas Bacteria Monitoring Results Fecal Coliform Averages in Each Area of the Bay Seekonk River (with the Pawtuxet River) 100000 Upper Providence River Pawtuxet River 14 Lower Providence River Conditional Areas

10000 Primary Contact Criterion 12 Shellfishing Criterion Rain Total - 3 Days Prior

10 Rain (inches) 1000

8

100 6

Fecal Coliform (MPN/100 ml) (MPN/100 Coliform Fecal 4

10

2

1 0 3/25/2010 4/1/10 4/5/10 4/7/10 4/9/10 Conclusions of Bay Bacteria Monitoring  Bay had highest bacteria levels on the first day sampled - 2 days after the storm  Seekonk River and upper Providence River = 2-9 times average historic wet weather bacteria levels  Lower Providence River and Conditional Shellfishing areas = 28-31 times average historic wet weather bacteria levels  Seekonk and Upper Providence Rivers back to historic dry weather bacteria levels 6 days after the rain event  Conditional Areas back to historic dry weather bacteria levels 10 days after the rain event  Lower Providence River bacteria levels remained elevated on the 10th day  Areas south of Pawtuxet River affected by the high bacteria levels coming from that river

Summer 2010 Water Quality

 Concern – spring rain, nutrients = bad summer WQ

 Low DO = fish kills, etc.

 NBC WQ Instruments in Providence River

 Summer 2010 better than ’08, ‘09

Summer 2010 Water Quality

 2010 better than ‘06, ‘08, ‘09

 Percent of time of low DO follows May/Jun rain trend better than Mar/Apr

 Spring rain not only factor  Temp  Wind Acknowledgements  NBC Environmental Monitoring and Data Analysis Department (EMDA)  NBC Laboratory  Warwick Sewer Authority  Cranston Water Pollution Control Facility  West Warwick Regional WWTF