Water Quality Sampling and Monitoring of the Pawcatuck
Water Quality Sampling and Monitoring of the Pawcatuck Estuary and Watershed Kaitlin Laabs and Theresa Armijo A Cooperative Multi-Agency Effort Pawcatuck Estuary Project July 2018 - September 2018
Characterize conditions in the estuary by: • Deployed instrumentation at two sites on the Pawcatuck River Estuary • Continuously measured dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-a (among other parameters) • Collected samples for nutrient analyses at locations where instrumentation were deployed Donahue Park - 01118502 Green Haven Marina – 01118520 (Pawcatuck River South of Route 1 at Pawcatuck, CT) (Pawcatuck River near Pawcatuck, CT) Donahue Park (01118502) September 12, 2018 Near-surface dissolved oxygen timeseries
Donahue Park (top monitor)
Specific Conductance (uS/cm)
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)
Green Haven Marina (top monitor)
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)
Specific Conductance (uS/cm) Next Steps:
• Need for more data to develop nutrient loading models • Help determine target nutrient loads for Pawcatuck River Estuary • Address water quality impacts of nutrient loading Water Quality Water Quality Sampling and Monitoring of the Pawcatuck Watershed is supported by the Sampling and Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Grants. SNEP Watershed Grants are funded Monitoring of by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through a collaboration with Restore America’s the Pawcatuck Estuaries (RAE). For more Watershed on SNEP Watershed Grants, see www.snepgrants.org Project Objectives
• Establish a monitoring network to collect samples from fourteen locations in the Pawcatuck River watershed for analysis of nutrients and related parameters as well as stream discharge. • Collect continuous water quality data at the end of the non-tidal portion of the Pawcatuck River watershed. Station number Station Name
01117350 CHIPUXET RIVER AT WEST KINGSTON, RI White Horn Brk at Ministerial Rd near 01117351 West Kindgston, RI USQUEPAUG RIVER NEAR USQUEPAUG, 01117420 RI Pawcatuck River at Sherman Ave. at 01117455 Kenyon, RI BEAVER River Shannock Hill RD, NEAR 01117471 SHANNOCK, RI 01118009 WOOD River NEAR Alton, RI Pawcatuck River at Alton-Bradford Road 01118030 at Bradford, RI TOMAQUAG BROOK, AT RT. 216, AT 01118055 BRADFORD, RI PAWCATUCK River near South 01118100 Hopkinton, RI Ashaway River at Extension 184 near 01118356 Ashaway, RI 01118360 ASHAWAY RIVER AT ASHAWAY, RI SHUNOCK River NEAR NORTH 01118400 STONINGTON, CT Site Locations 01118500 PAWCATUCK River at WESTERLY, RI 412647071373701 Factory Effluent Discharge Measurements Discrete Water Quality Sampling Discrete Water Quality Data Collected
Laboratory Analyte Field Parameters Ammonia (mg/L) Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) Ammonia + Organic Nitrogen (Whole and Dissolved) (mg/L) Specific Conductance (μS/cm) Nitrite (mg/L) pH Nitrite + Nitrate (mg/L) Water Temperature (°C) Phosphorus (Whole and Dissolved) (mg/L) Air Temperature (°C) Phosphate, Orthophosphate (mg/L) Total nitrogen (Calculated) (mg/L) Total Particulate Nitrogen and Phosphorus (mg/L) Chlorophyll-a, phytoplankton (Westerly Only) (ug/L) Pheophytin, phytoplankton (Westerly Only) (ug/L) Total Suspended Solids (mg/L)
Factory Effluent
Continuous Water Quality Monitoring
Pawcatuck River at Westerly RI (01118500) • Water Temperature (°C) • pH • Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) • Specific Conductance (µS/cm) • Turbidity (FNU) • Chlorophyll (mg/L and RFU) Continuous vs Discrete Chlorophyll Data pH vs Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved Oxygen % Saturation Next Phases.... Water Quality Monitoring of the Upper Pawcatuck River Estuary
Objective: Collect continuous data for the following physical- chemical parameters: water temperature, specific conductance, salinity and dissolved oxygen, at 2 sites of interest during the winter and spring of 2020 period (5 months January through May). Questions?