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Massachusetts Estuaries Project Massachusetts Estuaries Project Linked Watershed-Embayment Model to Determine Critical Nitrogen Loading Threshold for the Barnstable Great Marshes-Bass Hole Estuarine System Town of Barnstable & Dennis, Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Massachusetts Department of School of Marine ScienceMassachusetts and Technology Estuaries Environmental Project Protection DRAFT REPORT – June 2017 Linked Watershed-Embayment Model to Determine Critical Nitrogen Loading Threshold for the Barnstable Great Marshes -Bass Hole Estuarine System Town of Barnstable & Dennis, Massachusetts DRAFT REPORT – June 2017 Brian Howes Roland Samimy Ed Eichner David Schlezinger Trey Ruthven John Ramsey Phil "Jay" Detjens Contributors: US Geological Survey Don Walters and John Masterson Applied Coastal Research and Engineering, Inc. Elizabeth Hunt and Sean Kelley Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Charles Costello and Brian Dudley (DEP project manager) SMAST Coastal Systems Program Jennifer Benson, Michael Bartlett, Sara Sampieri Cape Cod Commission Tom Cambareri ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Massachusetts Estuaries Project Technical Team would like to acknowledge the contributions of the many individuals who have worked tirelessly for the restoration and protection of the critical coastal resources of Barnstable and Dennis and drove for the completion of the Linked Watershed-Embayment Model to Determine the Critical Nitrogen Loading Threshold for the Barnstable Great Marshes - Bass Hole Estuarine System. Without these stewards and their efforts, this project would not have been possible. First and foremost we would like to recognize and applaud the commitment shown by both the Town of Dennis and the Town of Barnstable in carrying forward with the Massachusetts Estuaries Project and the protection/restoration of all the estuaries of the Towns. Significant time and attention has been dedicated to this effort by Mr. David Larkowski, whose efforts were instrumental to completion of this report. Mr. Larkowski, Director of the Dennis Water District was critical to establishing the Town of Dennis Estuarine Water Quality Monitoring Program and dedicated much personal time and effort towards organizing and participating in sample collection to determine the nutrient related water quality for Bass Hole and other estuaries in the Town of Dennis. Without this baseline water quality data the present analysis would not have been possible. The MEP Technical Team would also like to recognize and applaud the significant time and effort in data collection and discussion spent by members of the Town of Barnstable Water Quality Monitoring Program and SMAST “volunteers”. The Monitoring of Barnstable Harbor was truly a coordinated joint effort between the Town staff, citizens and Coastal Systems Program scientific staff. These individuals gave of their time to collect nutrient related water quality from this system, without which the present analysis would not have been possible. Of particular note are Dale Saad for her energy and perseverance in the stewardship of one of the regions key coastal resources and John Jacobsen of the Town of Barnstable, both of whom have coordinated the Barnstable Town-wide Monitoring Program since its inception. Additionally, many in the Town of Barnstable helped in this effort, the Barnstable Department of Public Works and the Barnstable Shellfish Department, as well as the Barnstable Nutrient Management Committee. The technical team would like to specifically acknowledge the early efforts of Mark Els for helping to move this effort forward from its inception. In addition, the Three Bays Preservation Inc served as the major NGO promoting estuarine restoration and monitoring within the Town of Barnstable including the Barnstable Great Marshes. In addition to local contributions, technical, policy and regulatory support has been freely and graciously provided by Paul Niedzwiecki and Tom Cambareri of the Cape Cod Commission. We are also thankful for the long hours in the field and laboratory spent by technical staff (Jen Benson, Michael Bartlett, Sara Sampieri and Dahlia Medieros), interns and students within the Coastal Systems Program at SMAST-UMD. Support for this project was provided by the Town of Barnstable, Town of Dennis, Barnstable County and the MassDEP. PROPER CITATION Howes B., E. Eichner, S. Kelley, R. Samimy, J. S. Ramsey, D. Schlezinger, P. Detjens (2017). Massachusetts Estuaries Project Linked Watershed-Embayment Model to Determine the Critical Nitrogen Loading Threshold for the Barnstable Great Marshes - Bass Hole Estuarine System, Town of Barnstable and Dennis, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Boston, MA. © [2017] University of Massachusetts & Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection All Rights Reserved No permission required for non-commercial use MASSACHUSETTS ESTUARIES PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 I.1 THE MASSACHUSETTS ESTUARIES PROJECT APPROACH ...................................... 6 I.2 NITROGEN LOADING.................................................................................................... 10 I.3 WATER QUALITY MODELING ...................................................................................... 11 I.4 REPORT DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................... 11 II. PREVIOUS STUDIES RELATED TO NITROGEN MANAGEMENT ....................................13 III. DELINEATION OF WATERSHEDS ....................................................................................32 III.1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................ 32 III.2 MODEL DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................... 33 III.3 BARNSTABLE GREAT MARSHES SYSTEM CONTRIBUTORY AREAS ..................... 34 IV. WATERSHED NITROGEN LOADING TO EMBAYMENT: LAND USE, STREAM INPUTS, AND SEDIMENT NITROGEN RECYCLING ...................................................41 IV.1 WATERSHED LAND USE BASED NITROGEN LOADING ANALYSIS ........................ 41 IV.1.1 Land Use and Water Use Database Preparation ................................................ 45 IV.1.2 Nitrogen Loading Input Factors .......................................................................... 50 IV.2 ATTENUATION OF NITROGEN IN SURFACE WATER TRANSPORT ....................... 70 IV.2.1 Background and Purpose ................................................................................... 70 IV.2.2 Surface water Discharge and Attenuation of Watershed Nitrogen: Alder Brook Discharge to Barnstable Harbor ............................................................... 74 IV.2.3 Surface water Discharge and Attenuation of Watershed Nitrogen: Boat Cove Creek Discharge to Barnstable Harbor .............................................................. 82 IV.2.4 Surface water Discharge and Attenuation of Watershed Nitrogen: Bridge Creek Discharge to Barnstable Harbor ............................................................... 84 IV.2.5 Surface water Discharge and Attenuation of Watershed Nitrogen: Maraspin Creek Discharge to Barnstable Harbor-Millway ................................................. 89 IV.2.6 Surface water Discharge and Attenuation of Watershed Nitrogen: Whites Brook Discharge to Bass Hole ........................................................................... 93 IV.2.7 Surface water Discharge and Attenuation of Watershed Nitrogen: Chase Garden Creek Discharge to Bass Hole .............................................................. 98 IV.3 BENTHIC REGENERATION OF NITROGEN IN BOTTOM SEDIMENTS .................. 102 IV.3.1 Sediment-Water column Exchange of Nitrogen ................................................ 102 IV.3.2 Method for determining sediment-watercolumn nitrogen exchange .................. 103 IV.3.3 Rates of Summer Nitrogen Regeneration from Sediments ............................... 104 V. HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING ......................................................................................... 111 V.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 111 V.2 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 112 V.2.1 Bathymetry Data ............................................................................................... 112 V.2.2 Tide Data Collection and Analysis ..................................................................... 113 V.2.2.1 Tide Datums ............................................................................................... 115 V.2.2.2 Tide Harmonic Analysis .............................................................................. 115 V.2.2.3 Tide Flood and Ebb Dominance .................................................................. 118 V.3 HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING ................................................................................... 120 V.3.1 Model Theory .................................................................................................... 121 i MASSACHUSETTS ESTUARIES PROJECT V.3.2 Model Setup ...................................................................................................... 121 V.3.2.1 Grid generation .........................................................................................
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