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Boston Harbor Watersheds Water Quality & Hydrologic Investigations

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Boston Harbor Watersheds

Water Quality & Hydrologic Investigations

Fore River Watershed Mystic River Watershed Neponset River Watershed Weir River Watershed

Project Number 2002-02/MWI

June 30, 2003

Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Resource Protection

Boston Harbor Watersheds Water Quality & Hydrologic Investigations

Project Number 2002-01/MWI June 30, 2003 Report Prepared by:

Ian Cooke, Neponset River Watershed Association Libby Larson, Mystic River Watershed Association Carl Pawlowski, Fore River Watershed Association Wendy Roemer, Neponset River Watershed Association Samantha Woods, Weir River Watershed Association

Report Prepared for:

Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Resource Protection

Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Ellen Roy Herzfelder, Secretary

Department of Environmental Protection Robert W. Golledge, Jr., Commissioner

Bureau of Resource Protection Cynthia Giles, Assistant Commissioner

Division of Municipal Services Steven J. McCurdy, Director

Division of Watershed Management Glenn Haas, Director

Boston Harbor Watersheds Water Quality & Hydrologic Investigations

Project Number 2002-01/MWI July 2001 through June 2003

Report Prepared by:

Ian Cooke, Neponset River Watershed Association Libby Larson, Mystic River Watershed Association Carl Pawlowski, Fore River Watershed Association Wendy Roemer, Neponset River Watershed Association Samantha Woods, Weir River Watershed Association

Report Prepared for:

Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Resource Protection

Preface

In 2002 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection sought outside contractors to conduct water quality and hydrologic investigations in the Boston Harbor Watershed, with the goal of restoring designated uses as called for under the Federal Clean Water Act. The project was initiated under, and funded through, the Massachusetts Watershed Initiative using state environmental bond funds.

As defined by the state of Massachusetts the Boston Harbor Watershed consists of a number of smaller, hydrologically separate watersheds each of which drains to the Boston Harbor. These include the Mystic River Watershed to the northeast of Boston, the Neponset River Watershed to the Southwest, the Fore River Watershed to the south, the Back River to the southeast, and finally the Weir River Watershed to the extreme southeast. Notably omitted for the state defined Boston Harbor Watershed is the Harbor’s other major tributary, the Charles River.

To maximize the benefits derived from limited funds, the Department of Environmental Protection selected a coalition of nonprofit organizations to carry out the project, using a volunteer based water quality monitoring strategy. The coalition included the Neponset, Mystic, Fore and Weir River Watershed Associations, with the Neponset Watershed Association serving as fiscal agent for the project. This collaborative matched the funding available from the Department with volunteer time, in-kind laboratory analysis, other in-kind services and contributions from private donors to substantially expand the scope of what could be accomplished.

This report summarizes the results of those investigations, and recommends actions needed to restore natural resources and achieve water quality standards in the study area.

Each of the Watersheds included in the study area has its own unique set of water quality challenges and opportunities. Furthermore each watershed had available to it different levels of matching resources. The result was in essence a set of four separate but interrelated water quality monitoring programs tailored specifically to the needs, resources and goals of its own watershed.

While watershed impairments and sampling strategies all differed, each monitoring program had one thing in common: a DEP approved QAPP. The QAPP or Quality Assurance Project Plan was prepared by the applicable watershed association and spelled out all the details of how the investigations would be conducted and the measures taken to ensure that the resulting data was reliable for its intended purposes.

The four resulting reports are collected here to form this overall water quality assessment and action plan for the Boston Harbor Watersheds. The overall table of contents provides a key to locating the beginning of each watershed’s report in both the hard copy and electronic versions of the report. Each watershed section then includes its own, more detailed table of contents.

Overall Table of Contents

Watershed Name
Hard Copy Tab Number
PDF
Page Number

Fore River Watershed ........................... One .................................................11 Mystic River Watershed .......................Two................................................29 Neponset River Watershed ..................Three...............................................91 Weir River Watershed...........................Four...............................................351

Fore
River Watershed

Fore River Watershed Table of Contents

Background and Program Design............................................................................................... 3

The Fore River Watershe d . ......................................................................................................... 3 Past Monitoring and Project Goals............................................................................................ 3 Sampling Program Design.......................................................................................................... 4 Sampling Station Descriptions.................................................................................................... 5 Water Quality Criteria................................................................................................................ 8

Discussion and Recommendations............................................................................................... 9

Location No. 31: Phillips Creek at North Street......................................................................... 9 Location No. 45: Tributary at Montcalm Street ......................................................................... 9 Location No. 61: Smelt Brook................................................................................................... 10 Location No. 71: Monatiquot River @ Shaw Stree t . ................................................................ 10 Location No. 71A: Storm Drain at Shaw Street Bridge ........................................................... 10

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 12 References.................................................................................................................................... 13 Appendix: Data Tables............................................................................................................... 15

  • Fore River Watershed, page F1
  • Fore River Watershed, page F2

Background and Program Design

The Fore River Watershed

The Fore River Watershed includes some 46.5 square miles draining portions of Quincy, Braintree, and Weymouth. The watershed includes both freshwater tributaries and large estuarine reaches. Critical natural resources within the Fore River Watershed include extensive shellfish beds, anadromous smelt and herring runs, and an active recreational boating community and swimming beaches in the brackish portion of the watershed. Some 150,000 people reside in the watershed, and land use ranges from high density urban to low density suburban. The Fore River Watershed also has a significant stretch of “working waterfront” which includes the former Fore River shipyard, MWRA sludge to fertilizer facility and Sythe energy generating station.

Water quality in the Fore River Watershed and its tributaries has historically been severely impacted by bacterial pollution in the freshwater reaches and upper estuary, resulting in nonsupport of primary and secondary contact recreation standards and the closure of productive shellfish beds. The Lower Estuary, dominated by saltwater inflows from the Boston Harbor, has benefited significantly from the Boston Harbor Cleanup Project, and generally supports shell fishing. Many segments of the Fore River are included on the Massachusetts 303(d) list for pathogens and other sources of impairment.

Frequent sanitary sewer overflows from the MWRA’s Braintree-Weymouth Interceptor have been one of the primary sources of historic bacterial pollution. Upgrades to the interceptor are underway which should at least minimize and hopefully completely eliminate these egregious discharges. However any number of other sources of bacterial pollution exist within the watershed such as cross-connections, other SSOs, exfiltration and nonpoint sources, such that remediation of the Interceptor, in and of itself, will not be sufficient to restore primary and secondary contact shell fishing uses.

Past Monitoring and Project Goals

Aside from the data collected in the past by the Fore River Watershed Association, very minimal assessment activities have been conducted on the Fore River by DEP or other government agencies. As a result, the DEP Nonpoint Source Action plan identifies conducting water quality monitoring and assessments as the primary, if not only, action for many segments of the Fore River Watershed.

Assessment and monitoring activities in the Fore River Watershed were carried out by the staff and volunteers of the Fore River Watershed Association, with additional technical and administrative support from the Neponset River Watershed Association.

The Fore River Watershed Association (FRWA) was founded in 1996 with the mission to protect and restore the natural resources of the Fore/Weymouth River, its tributaries and surrounding lands. Restoring water quality is a priority goal for the Association, specifically restoring

Fore River Watershed, page F3

primary and secondary contact recreation uses, restoring resident and anadromous fishery habitats and reopening the Fore River’s production of currently polluted shellfish beds.

The Association conducted a volunteer water-quality monitoring program from 1996 to 2000 with the support and assistance of the Mass Bays Program and the Mass Water Resources Authority. This program collected high quality data that helped identify sources of bacterial contamination and initiate remediation efforts by municipal and state parties.

The ultimate goal of the project in the Fore River Watershed is to restore primary and secondary contact recreation uses, as well as to reopen shellfish beds. Consistent with the recommendations of DEP’s Boston Harbor Watershed 1999 Water Quality Assessment Report, the immediate objectives are to:
 Establish a sustainable, volunteer-based monitoring program that will provide the data needed to bring about water quality improvements;
 Develop and obtain DEP approval for a QAPP to guide implementation of the monitoring program;
 Collect high quality baseline data on bacteria and other basic physical water quality parameters, at strategic locations, focusing initially on the upper watershed;
 Identify specific pollution sources contributing to non-attainment of designated uses, and work with municipal, state and federal officials to secure remediation of those pollution sources;
 Educate the public about water quality conditions in the Fore River, and thereby build a stronger local constituency for restoring designated uses.

Because this is a relatively new volunteer sampling program, with limited pre-existing infrastructure and few matching resources in addition to DEP funding, the scope of sampling activities in the Fore River watershed was significantly more limited than the scope of sampling in other sub-basins of the Boston Harbor Watershed. Activities focused on establishing a sound foundation for the growth of the program over time.

Sampling Program Design

Volunteers collected samples on weekday mornings, during slack low tide, such that all the samples reflect freshwater conditions. Observations were made in the field for temperature and pH. Stream discharge was also estimated in the field. Volunteers also collected samples in the field that were analyzed by G&L Laboratories for Fecal coliform, E. coli, and TSS. All sampling was conducted under the guidance of a DEP approved QAPP.

Monitoring took place at four instream and one outfall location. Instream locations were positioned at the downstream ends of the key tributaries before they entered the Fore River proper. The outfall location was included to evaluate whether past efforts to eliminate known illicit sanitary flows in that outfall had been successful.

In all, five rounds of sampling were completed. Three rounds were representative of dry-weather conditions and two rounds representative of wet-weather conditions. Precipitation data for each sampling event as measured at the Blue Hills observatory is presented in the table below.

Fore River Watershed, page F4

Sampling Dates and Antecedent Precipitation

  • Date
  • Inches of precipitation
  • Weather

during 72 hours preceding 8 AM classification
8/22/02 10/10/02 12/6/02 4/18/03 6/18/2003
0.66 0.00 0.41 0.00
0.00*
Wet Dry Wet Dry Dry
* precipitation for 48 hrs prior only due to incomplete record at Blue Hill Observatory

Sampling Station Descriptions

Location No. 31: Phillips Creek at North Street

(tributary to MA74-14, Class SB Restricted Shellfishing) Phillips Creek is a small tributary that flows into the Fore River at the northeast corner of Mill Cove. The creek flows through predominantly residential areas, salt marshes and wetlands. During the Fore River Embayment Project, monitoring in Phillips Creek led the identification of a cluster of homes tied into a central septic system. This finding led the Town of Weymouth to work together with the owners to connect these homes to the local sewer system. This work was apparently completed in l995. Subsequent monitoring of the creek indicates that although bacterial contamination appears to have been reduced, it has not been eliminated.

Location No. 45: Tributary at Montcalm Street

(tributary to MA74-14, Class SB Restricted Shellfishing) The tributary at Montcalm Street is impacted by sanitary sewer overflows from a sewer line owned by the Town of Weymouth. Results from past monitoring events indicate that the tributary does not contribute a significant bacterial pollutant loading to the Fore River during dry periods.

Location No. 61: Smelt Brook

(tributary to MA74-14, Class SB Restricted Shellfishing) Smelt Brook is severely impacted by sanitary sewer overflows from MWRA’ s interceptor. During wet weather events, the local sewer systems and the interceptor overflow, discharging tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage directly into the brook. However, during dry periods without overflows, this tributary appears to be one of the cleanest.

Location No. 71: Monatiquot River

(MA74-08, Class B Warm Water Fishery) The Monatiquot River is the largest source of flow into the Fore River. Historical monitoring at this location shows that, while not completely clean, this water appears to be the least polluted of all the monitored locations.

Location No. 71A: Storm Drain at Shaw Street Bridge

(outfall to MA74-08, Class B Warm Water Fishery)

Fore River Watershed, page F5

The discharge from the storm drain at the Shaw Street Bridge is contaminated with sanitary sewage. Work done during the Fore River Embayment Project sought to locate and eliminate the sources of this pollution. The problem was traced to an apparent sewage leak into the storm drain from a local sewerage line. The Town of Braintree repaired a portion of the sewer line in 1996. Subsequent monitoring appeared to show an improvement in water quality, however, bacteria levels increased over time at this location.

Fore River Watershed, page F6

Phillips Creek @ Pearl Street 31

[_
[_

Lower Mill Cove @ Montcalm Street 45
Monatiquot River @ Shaw Street 71

[_
[_

Smelt Brook @ Commercial Street Lot 61

[_

Storm Drain @ Shaw Street Bridge 710

Water Quality Criteria

Under the Mass Surface Water Quality Standards the Monaquit River is classified as Class B warm water fishery, while the Fore River Estuary is classified as SB Shellfishing restricted. The Mass Surface Water Quality Standards designate numeric criteria for establishing use determinations for some, but not all designated uses. For discussion purposes, thresholds from the scientific literature have been used. The Water Quality Criteria used in the discussion that follows are summarized below.

Discussion Criteria and Abbreviations

  • Parameter
  • Criterion
  • Abbreviation
  • Basis for Criterion

Fecal Coliform Contact Recreation

  • < 200 cfu/100mL
  • Swimmable

Fishable
MA Surface Water Quality Standards
> 200 cfu/100mL AND < 1,000 cfu/100mL

  • > 1,000 cfu/100mL
  • Nonsupport

E. coli Contact Recreation
< 126 cfu/100mL > 126 cfu/100mL AND < 630 cfu/100mL > 630 cfu/100mL
Swimmable Fishable
EPA-823-R-98-003 Bacterial Water Quality Standards Status Report. Office of Science and Technology. Office of Water.
Exceedance

  • TSS
  • < 25
  • Acceptable

Concern
Kennedy, et. Al. 1995
> 25 AND < 80

  • > 80
  • Problem

pH

Class SB

>= 6.5 and <= 8.5 < 6.5 or > 8.5

  • Support
  • MA Surface Water Quality Standards

MA Surface Water Quality Standards MA Surface Water Quality Standards MA Surface Water Quality Standards
Nonsupport
Temperature Warm Water Fishery
<= 28.3 degrees C > 28.3 degrees C
Support Nonsupport

Temperature Cold Water Fishery
<= 20 degrees C > 20 degrees C
Support Nonsupport

Fecal Coliform Restricted Shellfishing
<= 88 cfu/100ml > 88 cfu/100ml
Support Nonsupport

Fore River Watershed, page F8

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  • Horsley Witten Group Technical Analysis Upper Alewife Brook Basin

    Horsley Witten Group Technical Analysis Upper Alewife Brook Basin

    +RUVOH\:LWWHQ*URXS 6XVWDLQDEOH(QYLURQPHQWDO6ROXWLRQV 5RXWH$6DQGZLFK0$ 3KRQH)D[ZZZKRUVOH\ZLWWHQFRP 7HFKQLFDO$QDO\VLV 8SSHU$OHZLIH%URRN%DVLQ ,PSDFW6WXG\ )HEUXDU\ 3UHSDUHGIRU (OOHQ0DVV )ULHQGVRI$OHZLIH5HVHUYDWLRQ $OHZLIH%URRN3DUNZD\ %HOPRQW0$ 6SRQVRUHGE\ %HOPRQW/DQG7UXVW &DPEULGJH*UHHQ %HOPRQW&LWL]HQV)RUXP Upper Alewife Brook Watershed Technical Analysis Table of Contents Page 1.0 Purpose 1 2.0 The Study Area 1 3.0 Flooding and Stormwater 2 4.0 Habitat 6 5.0 Water Quality 8 6.0 Smart Growth and Low Impact Development 10 7.0 References 11 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 ± Hydrologic Analysis 3 Table 2 ± Scientific Studies on Wildlife Habitat at the Belmont Uplands 6 Table 3 ± Phosphorus Loading Analysis 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 ± Mystic River Watershed and Subbasins Figure 2 ± FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer Alewife Subbasin Figure 3 ± Recharge Rates Figure 4 ± Impervious Cover Alewife Subbasin Figure 5 ± Impervious Cover vs. Native Fish Species Figure 6 ± Phosphorus Loading Rates 8 Figure 7 ± Phosphorus Loading Analysis 9 Figure 8 ± Low Impact Development Stormwater BMPs Technical Analysis ± Upper Alewife Brook Watershed 1.0 Purpose This report was prepared to provide the towns of Arlington, Belmont and Cambridge a clear understanding of the hydrologic and ecological considerations associated with continued development of environmentally-sensitive lands associated with the upper Alewife Brook Watershed which includes Little River in Cambridge and several ponds and streams. A specific focus is provided on the proposed development project at the Belmont Uplands site which is characterized by Charles Katuska, PVVS, Chair conservation Commission in Sutton, as a silver maple forest monoculture. The report provides a technical summary of flooding, habitat, water quality, and climate change as they substantially affect the regional subject area.
  • (Osmerus Mordax) Spawning Habitat in the Weymouth- Fore River

    (Osmerus Mordax) Spawning Habitat in the Weymouth- Fore River

    Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Technical Report TR-5 Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) Spawning Habitat in the Weymouth- Fore River Bradford C. Chase and Abigail R. Childs Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Commonwealth of Massachusetts September 2001 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Technical Report TR-5 Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) Spawning Habitat in the Weymouth-Fore River Bradford C. Chase and Abigail R. Childs Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Station 30 Emerson Ave. Gloucester, MA 01930 September 2001 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Paul Diodati, Director Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement Dave Peters, Commissioner Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Bob Durand, Secretary Commonwealth of Massachusetts Jane Swift, Governor ABSTRACT The spawning habitat of anadromous rainbow smelt in the Weymouth-Fore River, within the cities of Braintree and Weymouth, was monitored during 1988-1990 to document temporal, spatial and biological characteristics of the spawning run. Smelt deposited eggs primarily in the Monatiquot River, upstream of Route 53, over a stretch of river habitat that exceeded 900 m and included over 8,000 m2 of suitable spawning substrate. Minor amounts of egg deposition were found in Smelt Brook, primarily located below the Old Colony railroad embankment where a 6 ft culvert opens to an intertidal channel. The Smelt Brook spawning habitat is degraded by exposure to chronic stormwater inputs, periodic raw sewer discharges and modified stream hydrology. Overall, the entire Weymouth-Fore River system supports one of the larger smelt runs in Massachusetts Bay, with approximately 10,000 m2 of available spawning substrate.
  • The Massachusetts Bay Hydrodynamic Model: 2005 Simulation

    The Massachusetts Bay Hydrodynamic Model: 2005 Simulation

    The Massachusetts Bay Hydrodynamic Model: 2005 Simulation Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Environmental Quality Department Report ENQUAD 2008-12 Jiang MS, Zhou M. 2008. The Massachusetts Bay Hydrodynamic Model: 2005 Simulation. Boston: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. Report 2008-12. 58 pp. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Boston, Massachusetts The Massachusetts Bay Hydrodynamic Model: 2005 Simulation Prepared by: Mingshun Jiang & Meng Zhou Department of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences University of Massachusetts Boston 100 Morrissey Blvd Boston, MA 02125 July 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay system (MBS) is a semi- enclosed coastal system connected to the Gulf of Maine (GOM) through boundary exchange. Both natural processes including climate change, seasonal variations and episodic events, and human activities including nutrient inputs and fisheries affect the physical and biogeochemical environment in the MBS. Monitoring and understanding of physical–biogeochemical processes in the MBS is important to resource management and environmental mitigation. Since 1992, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) has been monitoring the MBS in one of the nation’s most comprehensive monitoring programs. Under a cooperative agreement between the MWRA and University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB), the UMB modeling team has conducted numerical simulations of the physical–biogeochemical conditions and processes in the MBS during 2000-2004. Under a new agreement between MWRA, Battelle and UMB, the UMB continues to conduct a numerical simulation for 2005, a year in which the MBS experienced an unprecedented red–tide event that cost tens of millions dollars to Massachusetts shellfish industry. This report presents the model validation and simulated physical environment in 2005.