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Find It and Fix It Stormwater Program in the Charles and Mystic River Watersheds

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Find It and Fix It Stormwater Program in the Charles and Mystic River Watersheds FIND IT AND FIX IT STORMWATER PROGRAM IN THE CHARLES AND MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHEDS FINAL REPORT JUNE 2005 - AUGUST 2008 October 29, 2008 SUBMITTED TO: MASSACHUSETTS ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS OFFICE OF GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 100 CAMBRIDGE STREET, 9TH FLOOR BOSTON, MA 02114 SUBMITTED BY: CHARLES RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION 190 PARK ROAD 20 ACADEMY STREET, SUITE 203 WESTON, MA 02493 ARLINGTON, MA 02476 Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................................. 3 List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 6 Organization of Report ................................................................................................................... 8 1.0 PROGRAM BACKGROUND............................................................................................ 9 1.1 Charles River.................................................................................................................. 9 1.1.1 Program Study Area................................................................................................ 9 1.1.2 Water Quality Issues............................................................................................. 13 1.1.3 Remediation Efforts Prior to FIFI......................................................................... 16 1.2 Mystic River.................................................................................................................. 17 1.2.1 Project Study Area ................................................................................................ 18 1.2.2 Remediation Efforts Prior to Find it and Fix It..................................................... 22 2.0 PROGRAM SCOPE OF WORK...................................................................................... 24 3.0 CHARLES RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION’S FIND IT AND FIX IT PROGRAM................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Task 1: Conduct Visual Shoreline Surveys .................................................................. 26 3.1.1 Background........................................................................................................... 26 3.1.2 Scope of Work...................................................................................................... 27 3.1.3 Methodology......................................................................................................... 28 3.1.4 Shoreline Survey Results ..................................................................................... 32 3.1.5 Conclusions and Future Work .............................................................................. 38 3.2 Task 2: Collect and Test Water Samples ...................................................................... 39 3.2.1 Background........................................................................................................... 40 3.2.2 Scope of Work...................................................................................................... 41 3.2.3 Methodology......................................................................................................... 42 3.2.4 Water Quality Monitoring Results........................................................................ 45 3.2.5 Conclusions and Future Work .............................................................................. 99 3.3 Task 3: Promote Best Management Practices (BMPs)............................................... 100 3.3.1 Background......................................................................................................... 101 3.3.2 Scope of Work .................................................................................................... 101 3.3.3 Methodology......................................................................................................... 103 3.3.4 BMP Promotion Results ..................................................................................... 104 3.3.5 Conclusions and Future Work ............................................................................ 116 3.4 Public Education and Outreach................................................................................... 116 3.4.1 Background........................................................................................................ 117 3.4.2 Scope of Work .................................................................................................... 117 3.4.3 Results................................................................................................................. 118 3.4.4 Conclusions and Future Work ............................................................................ 121 4.0 MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION’S FIND IT AND FIX IT PROGRAM................................................................................................................................. 123 4.1 Visual monitoring ....................................................................................................... 123 4.1.1 Overview/scope of work/tasks............................................................................ 123 4.1.2 Methodology...................................................................................................... 123 4.1.3 Shoreline Survey Results .................................................................................... 125 4.2 Water quality monitoring............................................................................................ 134 2 4.2.1 Overview of Monitoring Programs..................................................................... 134 4.2.2 Monitoring Design.............................................................................................. 135 4.2.3 Water Quality Monitoring Results...................................................................... 136 4.3 Promoting BMPs......................................................................................................... 149 4.3.1 Outfall Mapping.................................................................................................. 149 4.3.2 Political Advocacy.............................................................................................. 153 4.3.3 Tributary Monitoring Follow-up......................................................................... 153 4.3.4 BMP Education and Outreach ............................................................................ 155 4.4 Education and Outreach.............................................................................................. 158 5.0 GUIDEBOOK................................................................................................................. 160 5.1 Background and Scope of Work................................................................................. 160 5.2 Methodology............................................................................................................... 160 5.3 Results......................................................................................................................... 160 5.4 Conclusions and Future Work .................................................................................... 160 6.0 EVALUATION............................................................................................................... 162 6.1 Objective 1: Identify Potential Sources of Non-Point Source Pollution..................... 162 6.2 Objective 2: Track and Monitor Reported or Suspected Non-Point Source Pollution “Hot Spots” ............................................................................................................................. 162 6.2.1 CRWA Monitoring ............................................................................................. 162 6.2.2 MyRWA Monitoring .......................................................................................... 163 6.3 Objective 3: Guide the Remediation of Non-point Source Pollution Problems ......... 164 7.0 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................... 166 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 179 List of Figures Figure 1: Percentage of Time the Charles River is Safe for Swimming in Wet and Dry Weather 7 Figure 2: CRWA Program Study Area ......................................................................................... 10 Figure 3: Mystic River watershed................................................................................................. 18 Figure 4: Mystic River subbasins ................................................................................................. 19 Figure 5: Map of Charles River Shoreline Survey Project Area .................................................. 27 Figure 6: Waltham Hot Spot Sampling Sites................................................................................ 47 Figure 7: Photos of Turbid Plume and Oil Sheen Observed during Sampling............................
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