2020 Northeast Aquatic Biologists Conference

U.S. Geological Survey Discrete and Continuous Water Quality Monitoring in the Pawcatuck River Watershed Rhode Island and Connecticut

Full Abstract: The Pawcatuck River and the Pawcatuck River Estuary (PRE) and Little Narragansett Bay (LNB) form part of the boundary between the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Both states have identified water quality impairments within these waters related to nutrients (insufficient oxygen) and bacteria. The USGS has been working collaboratively the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) to collect water quality samples in the freshwater Pawcatuck River. A monitoring network in the Pawcatuck water shed was established by the USGS to collect samples from fourteen locations in the Pawcatuck River watershed for analysis of nutrients and related parameters as well as stream discharge. The data will be used to develop a watershed loading model to quantify loads to the PRE. It is planned that future steps will use this loading information in an estuarine water quality model to determine target nitrogen loads. In addition to the discrete water quality data, a continuous water quality sonde was deployed on the Pawcatcuk river at Westerly RI to collect continuous data for specific conductance, water temperature (℃), dissolved oxygen (mg/L and % saturation), turbidity, and chlorophyll-a.

The project will enhance the USGS data collection programs in Connecticut and Rhode Island, by adding to the understanding of nutrient loading on aquatic biological communities both within the freshwater and estuarine portions of the PRE. The collected data will help quantify the nutrient loads within the Pawcatuck Watershed, as well as help determine nutrient sources from point and non-point source locations. The intent is that this project will aid in the building of a water quality model for the PRE. Kaitlin Laabs, Hydrologic Technician; United States Geological Survey Kaitlin earned a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation and a minor in Biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2012. She then went on to earn a M.S. in Sustainability Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2014. Kaitlin began her career at the USGS in 2014 as a Hydrologic Technician, working primarily on the Connecticut water quality network. In her current position, Kaitlin’s primary role involves both discrete water quality sampling as well as continuous monitor maintenance. Theresa Armijo, United States Geological Survey