APPENDIX A TAUNTON RIVER WATERSHED DWM YEAR 2001 WATER QUALITY MONITORING DATA Technical Memorandum TM-62-6 DWM Control Number: 94.1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ELLEN ROY HERZFELDER, SECRETARY MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ROBERT W. GOLLEDGE JR., COMMISSIONER DIVISION OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT GLENN HAAS, DIRECTOR Taunton River Watershed 2001 Water Quality Assessment Report Appendix A A1 62wqar.doc DWM CN 94.0 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................A3 Project Objectives .............................................................................................................................A3 Field and Analytical Methods .............................................................................................................A4 Survey Conditions...........................................................................................................................A12 Water Quality Data .........................................................................................................................A17 References Cited ............................................................................................................................A34 Appendix 1 - Quality Assurance/Quality Control Data Validation .......................................................A35 Appendix 2 - 2001 Data Symbols and Qualifiers ..............................................................................A42 List of Tables and Figures Table 1: Taunton River Basin Sampling Location Descriptions and Sampling Schedule – 2001............A9 Table 2: WES/DWM Analytical Methods & MDLs for 2001 Water Quality Analytes .............................A12 Table 3: Taunton River Basin Precipitation Data Summary ...............................................................A14 Table 4: Taunton River - 2001 USGS Flow Data Summary ...............................................................A14 Table 5: Taunton River Watershed Water Quality Data (2001) - Hydrolab® Multiprobe ......................A17 Table 6: Taunton River Watershed Water Quality Data (2001) – Physico-Chemical Data....................A21 Table 7: Taunton River Watershed Water Quality Data (2001) - Bacteria and Fluorescent Whitening Agents.............................................................................................................................A24 Table 8: Taunton River Watershed Quality Control Data-Blanks (2001) .............................................A30 Table 9: Taunton River Quality Control Data-Duplicates (2001).........................................................A31 Figure 1: Taunton River Watershed 2001 Water Quality Stations .....................................................A5 Figure 1a: Wading River, Rumford River, Canoe River and Three Mile River Subwatersheds 2001 Water Quality Stations ....................................................................................................A6 Figure 1b: Satucket River Subwatershed 2001 Water Quality Stations ...............................................A7 Figure 1c: Assonet River Subwatershed 2001 Water Quality Stations ................................................A8 Figure 2a: Taunton River Basin – Precipitation and Discharge Data – July 2001...............................A15 Figure 2b: Taunton River Basin – Precipitation and Discharge Data – August 2001...........................A15 Figure 2c: Taunton River Basin – Precipitation and Discharge Data – September 2001.....................A16 Taunton River Watershed 2001 Water Quality Assessment Report Appendix A A2 62wqar.doc DWM CN 94.0 Introduction Water quality sampling in the Taunton River Basin was conducted in 2001 to gather information that would help address the Massachusetts Division of Watershed Management’s (DWM) program objectives. The DWM sampling plan matrix for the Year Two monitoring is presented in Table 1. Sampling components at river stations included: in-situ HydrolabÔ measurements, physico-chemical and nutrient sampling, as well as, biological sampling which included benthic macroinvertebrate, periphyton (attached algae), and fish sampling. Pre-dawn dissolved oxygen sampling was performed in July followed by additional water quality sampling (i.e., nutrients, bacteria and other physico-chemical parameters) in August and September. Surveys for the development of total maximum daily loads (TMDL) were conducted at six lakes and ponds. Each sampling component - except for the lakes and biological sampling that are described in separate technical memoranda - is described in the sections that follow. Project Objectives Previous monitoring and assessment of waterbodies in the Taunton River Watershed identified segments that had lost one or more of their potential uses because of degraded water quality or habitats. These uses include: Primary and Secondary Contact Recreation, Aquatic Life, and Aesthetics (MA DEP, 1996). Several of these segments now appear on the Commonwealth’s 303d list of impaired waters with the causes of the problems listed, if known. The goals and objectives of the 2001 Taunton River sampling were delineated in a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) (MA DEP, 2001d) and included: 1. Re-assess segments that are on the 303d list for pathogens with the possibility that water quality improvements could lead to their removal from the list. 2. Conduct water quality testing and biological/habitat assessment of the Satucket River system and its tributary, Stump Brook, which flows from Monponsett Pond. 3. Re-assess segments that are on the 303d list for DO/organic enrichment and try to define the spatial extent of contamination. 4. Sample waterbodies that are listed as unassessed in the Taunton River 1996 assessment report to learn if they are meeting water quality standards. 5. Attempt to locate sources of bacterial contamination using Escherichia coli and use of optical brightener or fluorescent whitening agents. 6. Examine nutrient impacts from two wastewater treatment plants in the Taunton River Basin: the Brockton POTW and the Mansfield POTW. Measure changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, algal communities and production, and the macroinvertebrate communities above and below the POTWs. 7. Provide data to support the development of TMDL’s for 6 lakes in the Taunton River Basin. 8. Assist the EPA in compliance monitoring of 1 or 2 wastewater treatment plants in the basin. 9. Sample fish from two lakes to determine the safety of fish consumption from these waterbodies. Taunton River Watershed 2001 Water Quality Assessment Report Appendix A A3 62wqar.doc DWM CN 94.0 Field and Analytical Methods Location descriptions, dates and parameters for the Taunton River water quality sampling program are included in Table 1. Figure 1 presents an overview of the station locations throughout the Taunton River Basin, while Figure 1a contains the station locations in the Wading, Rumford, Canoe and Three Mile River subwatersheds. The Satucket River subwatershed sampling locations are included in Figure 1b and the Assonet River subwatershed sampling stations are depicted in Figure 1c. The parameters included in the sampling were: in-situ Hydrolab TM measurements (dissolved oxygen, percent saturation, pH, conductivity, temperature and total dissolved solids), physico-chemical (total suspended solids total alkalinity, total hardness, chlorides and conductivity) and nutrient (nitrate-N, ammonia-N, total phosphorus) sampling. Physico-chemical and nutrient samples were transported on ice to the Wall Experiment Station (WES), the Department’s analytical laboratory in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where they were analyzed in accordance with the laboratory’s SOP (MA DEP, 2001a). The specific analytical methods employed are presented in Table 2. The water quality sampling procedures are included in the publication: CN 001.1 Sample Collection Techniques for DWM Surface Water Quality Monitoring (MA DEP, 2001b). The SOP document CN 004.1 (MA DEP, 2001c) outlines the standard operating procedures for the HydrolabTM. The quality control and assurance components are included in Quality Assurance Project Plan for Year 2001 Watershed Assessments of the Farmington, Westfield, Concord, Taunton and South Coastal Basins (MA DEP, 2001d) and Quality Assurance Project Plan for 2001 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Biomonitoring and Habitat Assessment (MA DEP, 2001e). Field sheets, raw data files, chain of custody forms, lab reports, and other forms of data used in this report are managed and maintained by DEP DWM in the Water Quality Access Database in Worcester, MA. Several people are involved in the validation of the water quality data which includes data entry, quality control checks, analysis for outlier and blank contamination, duplicates, precision and holding time violations as well as project level review. The project level review is completed by the project coordinator, as identified in the QAPP for the Taunton River (MADEP, 2001d). The coordinator reviews the data for reasonableness, completeness and acceptability; see CN 149.0 MA DEP (2004) for more detail regarding DWM data validation of 2001Taunton data. Taunton River Watershed 2001 Water Quality Assessment Report Appendix A A4 62wqar.doc DWM CN 94.0 LE G E N D # Wa t e r Q u a l i t y S t at io n Su r fa ce W at er To w n B o u n d a r i es Ta u n t on R i v er Lo c at i o n o f T a u n t on Wa