Plymouth Pond and River Monitoring Program A Partnership of Town of Plymouth Environmental Management Division with Billington Sea Association Herring Ponds Watershed Association Six Ponds Improvement Association Quality Assurance Project Plan 2011-2013 Prepared by: Cindy Delpapa Riverways Program, MA Department of Fish & Game Kim Michaelis DPW Environmental Management, Town of Plymouth Eberhard von Goeler Herring Ponds Watershed Association Revised May 2011 Page 1 of 55 TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page ...............................................................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................................3 1. Distribution List .......................................................................................................................................5 2. Program Organizational Chart..................................................................................................................7 2.1 Program Partners and Responsibilites...............................................................................................8 3. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................10 4. The Project Partners ................................................................................................................................10 4.1 Town Of Plymouth Environmental Management Division ..............................................................10 4.2 Billington Sea Association................................................................................................................11 4.3 Herring Ponds Watershed Association.............................................................................................11 4.4 Six Ponds Improvement Association.................................................................................................12 5. Pond and Town Brook Information........................................................................................................12 5.1 State Assessment of Pond Status.......................................................................................................15 6. Program Description and Goals..............................................................................................................17 6.1 Water Quality Monitoring Protocols for the Ponds ........................................................................24 6.2 Water Quality Monitoring Protocol for Town Brook ......................................................................27 6.3 Stream Flow Monitoring Protocol for Little/Great Herring Ponds & Carter’s/Herring River ......28 6.4 Education, Outreach and Management ...........................................................................................29 6.5 Schedules .........................................................................................................................................30 7. Water Quality - Test Parameters ............................................................................................................32 8. Data Quality - Quality Assurance.........................................................................................................32 8.1 Data Representativeness...................................................................................................................32 8.2 Duplicate Sampling...........................................................................................................................32 8.3 Comparability of Project Data .......................................................................................................333 8.4 Data Quality Considerations for Stream Flow Monitoring Protocol..............................................345 9. Sampling Procedures..............................................................................................................................35 10. Training of Volunteers .........................................................................................................................36 11. Safety Considerations...........................................................................................................................36 12. Documentation and Records.................................................................................................................37 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................................38 Town of Plymouth Surface Water Sampling Procedures............................................................................. Appendix B..................................................................................................................................................40 Water Sampling Procedures: Checklist...................................................................................................... Appendix C..................................................................................................................................................41 Water Sampling Procedures: Field Instructions ......................................................................................... Appendix D .................................................................................................................................................42 Water Sampling Procedures: Sample of Chain of Custody Sheet ............................................................... Appendix E Billington Sea Sampling Locations.........................................................................................43 1. Sampling Locations in Billington Sea...................................................................................................... 2. Sampling Locations in Tributaries of Billington Sea.............................................................................. Appendix F Great Herring Pond Sampling Locations.................................................................................45 1. Sampling Locations in Great Herring Pond............................................................................................ 2. Sampling Locations in Little Herring Pond and Carter’s River.............................................................. Appendix G Six Ponds Sampling Locations ...............................................................................................48 Sampling Locations of Six Ponds................................................................................................................. Appendix H Town Brook Sampling Procedures .........................................................................................49 Water Sampling Procedures: Sampling Locations in Town Brook ............................................................. Appendix I...................................................................................................................................................50 Water Sampling Procedures: Town of Plymouth Pond Monitoring Sheet ................................................. Page 3 of 55 Appendix J...................................................................................................................................................53 Secchi Disk and D/O Meter Use Instructions.............................................................................................. Appendix K .....................................................................................................................................55 Measurement of Water Flow in Herring River............................................................................................ Page 4 of 55 1. Distribution List Project Manager, Project Laboratory Coordinator Kim Michaelis Town of Plymouth Environmental Technician 11 Lincoln St. Plymouth, MA 02360 Monitoring Program Coordinators Marleen and Eberhard von Goeler Co-Presidents, Herring Ponds Watershed Association 28 Eagle Hill Dr. Plymouth, MA 02360 508-833-2136 Ken Cannon Co-Chair, Water Quality Committee, Herring Ponds Watershed Association Evelyn Rd. Plymouth, MA 02360 508-888-4844 Michael Leary President, Billington Sea Association 42 Billington Sea Plymouth, MA 02360 508-747=7365 Leighton A. Price President, Six Ponds Association 570 Mast Rd. Plymouth, MA 02360 508-224-3441 Edward Russell Water Quality Mgr., Six Ponds Association 725 Long Pond Rd Plymouth, MA 02360 508-224-2007 Quality Assurance Officers Kim Michaelis Town of Plymouth Environmental Technician 11 Lincoln St. Plymouth, MA 02360 Sara Grady Watershed Ecologist 6 Janebar Circle Plymouth, MA 02360 508-888-0345 Page 5 of 55 Town Data Manager Kim Michaelis Town of Plymouth Environmental Technician 11 Lincoln St. Plymouth, MA 02360 Technical Advisors: Sara Grady Watershed Ecologist 6 Janebar Circle Plymouth, MA 02360 508-888-0345 Cindy Delpapa Riverways Program, Department of Fish & Game 251 Causeway St., Suite 400 Boston, MA 02114 617-626-1540 Others: Kate McDermott Massachusetts Environmental Trust 100 Cambridge Street, 9th floor Boston, MA 02114 617-626-1545 Margaret Kearns Riverways Program, Department of Fish & Game 251 Causeway St., Suite 400 Boston, MA 02114 617-626-1533 Richard Chase MA DEP 627 Main Street Worcester, MA 01608 508-767-2859; [email protected]