Watershed Management

WatershedDOWNSTREAM ManagementPage 1 Number 22 Beyond the Definition Wa·ter·shed: 1: DIVIDE. 2: A region or area bounded peripherally by a divide and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water. Man·age: 1: to handle or direct with a degree of skill. 2: to make and keep compliant. 3: to treat with care. 4: to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction. Looking at Webster’s Online Dictionary one can derive a literal definition of “Watershed Management,” but what does it mean in the context of DCR’s Office of Watershed Management? A more graphic explanation of a watershed can start to help: a geographic area of land in which all surface and ground water flows downhill to a common point, such as a river, stream, pond, lake, wetland, or estuary. In other parts of the world, the terms “catchment” or “basin” are also used to describe the lands and waters that drain into a specific body of water. DCR’s Office of This illustration shows an entire watershed system, including Watershed Management rain fall and subsurface activity. It helps demonstrate how land has a legislatively use can have an effect, and be affected by, water quality in a mandated mission to watershed. Illustration: Jim Taylor, DCR staff “protect, preserve and enhance the environment of the Commonwealth and to assure the availability of pure water for future generations.” That translates into DCR managing the drinking source water supplies that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) treats and distributes to more than 2.5 million people in 51 communities. Photo by; Thom Kyker-Snowman DCR/DWSP Staff WATERSHED - SEE PAGE 4 In This Issue: NUMBER 22 The lead story in this issue pro- Watershed Management 1 Fall 2009 vides an overview of how water How DCR protects a water supply collects in nature and DCR’s efforts The Zebra Mussel 2 to protect its quality for drinking. A threat to Massachusetts waters Other topics covered in this issue Disposal of Unused Pharmaceuticals 3 are the first detection of the Zebra How to keep them out of drinking water Mussel in the state and the rising Reservoir Watch 3 Department of Conservation and awareness for the proper disposal Water supply facts from the summer Recreation of unwanted medicines. The latter Watershed Word Find 7 Division of Water Supply two articles have suggestions on A Kids Corner activity Protection ways everyone can help protect Support Land and Water Conservation 8 www.mass.gov/dcr/ drinking water quality. The new “Tree Plate” watersupply.htm DOWNSTREAM Page 2 Fall 2009 ebra ussels ound in assachusetts recently been on the lake and could Z M F M transport zebra mussels. After a month of Help Stop the Spread of This Notorious Invasive public outreach to increase awareness on zebra mussels and actions people can take to prevent their spread, DFG extended the Laurel Lake boat ramp closure through the end of the 2009 boating season. The closure will provide the state sufficient time to fully implement the range of actions called for in a new Interim Zebra Mussel Action Plan. Keeping zebra mussels out of a water body is crucial because there is no proven method of eradication. Boaters’ diligence to clean, drain, and dry equipment is critical to keeping this invasive species from colonizing other Massachusetts waters. A core component of the Interim Zebra Mussel Action Plan requires self- If you see this sign, PLEASE read it- certification by every user that their boat then heed it! Once the mussels invade a body of water, has not been on Laurel Lake or other out- DCR Archives there is no known way to eradicate them. of-state water bodies known to contain Zebra mussels were first found in the U.S. zebra mussels, or if it has, that the boat This past summer, zebra mussels were near the Great Lakes in 1988 and have has been properly decontaminated. found in Laurel Lake in Lee, the first time since spread to water bodies in about half of all states, including New York, Surveys are underway to gauge the full Dreissena polymorpha had ever been extent of the zebra mussel’s impact in seen in Massachusetts waters. They are Vermont, and Connecticut. Massachusetts lakes currently most at risk Berkshire County. DCR and DFG, in considered among the most significant cooperation with state and local invasive species in the United States, are in Berkshire County’s Hoosic and Housatonic watersheds. stakeholders, are also evaluating the causing major ecological and Interim Zebra Mussel Action Plan to infrastructure damage that costs billions Upon their discovery in Laurel Lake, DCR assess how the current measures are of taxpayer dollars per year to control. implemented the protocols laid out in the working, determine whether The zebra mussel is a freshwater bivalve Rapid Response Plan for Zebra Mussels modifications to the plan are needed, and mollusk that looks like a small clam with developed in 2005 by the agency’s Office update the text and provisions of the plan a yellowish or brownish shell shaped like of Water Resources. DCR notified the to reflect any new and pertinent the letter “D.” Typically an inch or less in Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) information related to zebra mussels, size, they have been found in numbers as Office of Fishing and Boating Access, including ecology, best management high as 750,000 individuals per square which has authority over state boat practices, laws, regulations, management meter. These mussels out-compete native ramps. DFG closed Laurel Lake’s public measures, and educational materials. mussel species and juvenile fish for access boat ramp on July 8 in order to microscopic plankton, endangering native reduce the risk from boats that had ZEBRA MUSSELS - SEE PAGE 6 species with extinction and upsetting the entire food chain. They attach by the Although small in size, the rate at thousands to virtually everything in a which the Zebra bridge. water body—including docks, boats, Mussel multiplies is Side-scan navigation markers, and even other a major threat to any aquatic organisms. Microscopic juvenile waterbody in which zebra mussels can enter and grow in boat it can flourish. cooling systems, water intakes, monitoring equipment, or other underwater machinery, completely clogging these structures. Their razor- sharp shells wash up on shore, creating a safety hazard for beachgoers as well as producing a foul odor as they decompose. Quabbin Visitors Center DOWNSTREAM Page 3 Number 22 3 Proper Disposal of Unused Pharmaceuticals Reduce water pollution and promote a healthy environment by properly disposing of unneeded or expired medications reach streams, rivers, and lakes do rescription and over-the-counter P affect wildlife, as medications are a source of pollution fish and wildfowl when they are flushed down the toilet or face continuous drain. Wastewater facilities and septic exposure to the systems are not currently designed to drugs. Medications process pharmaceutical products. thrown Compounds passing through haphazardly in the these systems can impact surface waters, trash can groundwater, and drinking water supplies. also be eaten by Pharmaceuticals can also be released into wildlife that waterways via stormwater run-off from frequent landfills. fields applied with manure or biosolids. Modern technology can detect more Guidelines for Proper Disposal substances, at lower levels, than ever These guidelines are taken from the White Mix the prescription drugs with an before. Fortunately, tests done in the House Office of National Drug Control undesirable substance, like used spring of 2008 detected no compounds in Policy, the Department of Health and coffee grounds or kitty litter, and put Boston’s source drinking water that Human Services, and the Environmental them in impermeable, non-descript comes from the Wachusett and Quabbin Protection Agency: containers, such as empty cans or Reservoirs. According to the American sealable bags, further ensuring that Water Works Association, research has Take unused, unneeded, or expired the drugs are not diverted or not demonstrated an impact on human prescription drugs out of their accidentally ingested by children or health from pharmaceuticals at the very original containers. pets. low levels reported nationally in some Remove ALL personal identification Throw these containers in the trash. drinking water supplies. Studies have or prescription labels from the shown, however, that medicines that container before placing in the trash. PHARMACEUTICALS - SEE PAGE 6 Reservoir Watch - Cleaning the Face of Wachusett Dam MWRA contractors have been busy unsightly, the efflorescence was containment and the water all summer cleaning the face of contaminated with PCBs from the collected and treated. The next Wachusett Dam. The dam face had caulking used on the dam steps are to repoint some areas of an accumulation of efflorescence promenade (see Downstream #21). the face and perform soils resulting from the weeping of Contractors removed the remediation. The fence will come calcium salts in mortar over the last efflorescence with high pressure down soon so DCR maintenance 100 years. In addition to being water. The work was done under crews can groom the grounds. - John Gregoire, MWRA Reservoir Operations Program Manager Reservoir Levels and 6-month Precipitation 2009 System-wide 6-Month Water Usage (March 2009 to August 2009) (Million Gallons Per Day) Reservoir Quabbin Wachusett 250 224.38 Minimum* 529.29’ 388.67’ 204.59 206.48 203.67 Percent Full 98.6% 87.2% 200 184.69 188.16 Date 6/16/09 3/1/09 Wachusett Dam, Before After Maximum* 530.44’ 392.72’ 150 Percent Full 100.9% 95.3% Date 4/7- 4/11/09 7/26/09 100 Precipitation 32.61” 24.91” 50 Seasonal Avg. 25.19” 23.21” *Reservoir Depth in Feet Above Mean Sea Level 0 Data: Matt Walsh, MWRA Project Engineer Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug DOWNSTREAM Page 4 Fall 2009 The DCR Watershed System This map shows the central portion of of the state containing the DCR watershed system.

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