QUALITY ASSURANCE PROJECT PLAN FOR Nashua River Watershed Association Volunteer Water Monitoring Program Amended Document Date: June 27, 2018 Prepared by: Nashua River Watershed Association 592 Main St, Groton, MA 01450 With funding from: The Fieldstone Foundation, The Greater Lowell Community Foundation, and member donations PROJECT MANAGER_________________________________________________________________ Martha Snow Morgan, Water Programs Director Date Nashua River Watershed Association PROJECT COORDINATOR____________________________________________________________ Kathryn Nelson, Water Monitoring Coordinator Date Nashua River Watershed Association PROJECT SUPERVISOR_______________________________________________________________ Elizabeth Ainsley Campbell, Executive Director Date Nashua River Watershed Association MassDEP QA COORDINATOR _______________________________________________________ Richard Chase Date NHDES QA COORDINATOR____________________________________________________________ Ted Walsh Date New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Nashua River Watershed Association Quality Assurance Project Plan Revision 2.0 4/30/2019 2.0 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 TITLE AND APPROVAL PAGE…............................................ ............................................................. 1 2.0 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................. 2 3.0 DISTRIBUTION LIST ..................................................................................................................................... 4 4.0 PROJECT & TASK ORGANIZATION ............................................................................................................ 5 Figure 4-1 Project Organization ......................................................................................... 5 Table 4-1. Project Organization and Responsibilities ....................................................... 6 5.0 PROBLEM DEFINITION / BACKGROUND .................................................................................................... 7 6.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................................................... 11 Table 6-1: Sampling Parameters and Justification ......................................................... 14 Table 6-2: Sampling Locations proposed for 2018 .......................................................... 15 Table 6-3: Project Timetable ........................................................................................... 18 7.0 DATA QUALITY OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................. 18 Table 7-1: Data Quality Objectives – Routine Monthly Monitoring conducted by NRWA Staff and Volunteers ............................................................................................ 21 Table 7-2: Special Projects- Data Quality Objectives- Analyses performed-by Nashoba Analytical, LLC .................................................................................................. 22 Table 7-4 Surface Water Quality Criteria for MA and NH ................................................ 24 8.0 TRAINING .................................................................................................................................................... 25 9.0 DOCUMENTATION AND RECORDS .......................................................................................................... 26 10.0 SAMPLING PROCESS DESIGN ................................................................................................................ 27 11.0 SAMPLING METHODS REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................ 29 Table 11-1: Sample Collection Requirements: Routine Monthly Monitoring & Special Projects ............................................................................................................................ 30 12.0 SAMPLE HANDLING AND CUSTODY REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................ 31 13.0 ANALYTICAL METHODS REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................ 31 14.0 QUALITY CONTROL REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................... 32 15.0 INSTRUMENT/ EQUIPMENT TESTING .................................................................................................... 33 16.0 INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION AND FREQUENCY ................................................................................... 34 17.0 INSPECTION/ ACCEPTANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPPLIES .......................................................... 36 18.0 DATA ACQUISITION REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................... 36 19.0 DATA MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................... 37 20.0 ASSESSMENT AND RESPONSE ACTIONS ............................................................................................ 38 21.0 REPORTS .................................................................................................................................................. 38 22.0 DATA REVIEW, VALIDATION AND VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS .................................................. 39 23.0 VALIDATION AND VERIFICATION METHODS ........................................................................................ 39 24.0 RECONCILIATION WITH DATA QUALITY OBJECTIVES ........................................................................ 40 REFERENCES (in addition to footnoted references provided in text) ................................................................ 41 Safety Considerations ........................................................................................................ 3 2018 SAMPLING DATES .................................................................................................. 4 CONTACTING THE NRWA ............................................................................................... 4 MONITORING DAY SCHEDULE ....................................................................................... 6 DELIVERING SAMPLES ................................................................................................... 6 MONITORING INSTRUCTIONS ........................................................................................ 7 Filling out Water Monitoring Forms: ................................................................................... 7 Filling out Labels for bottles: .............................................................................................. 8 GENERAL INFORMATION ON COLLECTING SAMPLES ................................................ 8 Bacteria .............................................................................................................................. 8 Water Temperature ............................................................................................................ 9 Dissolved Oxygen (DO) ................................................................................................... 10 Nashua River Watershed Association Quality Assurance Project Plan Revision 1.0 4/30/2019 WHAT DOES MONITORING TELL US? ......................................................................... 13 Bacteria (E. coli) ............................................................................................................... 13 Dissolved Oxygen ............................................................................................................ 13 Temperature .................................................................................................................... 14 Conductivity ..................................................................................................................... 15 APPENDIX A: Volunteer Manual APPENDIX B: Laboratory Standard Operating Procedures and Lab Data Forms APPENDIX C: NRWA Standard Operating Procedure for Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination 3 Nashua River Watershed Association Quality Assurance Project Plan Revision 1.0 4/30/2019 3.0 DISTRIBUTION LIST Elizabeth Ainsley Campbell…………………………………………………………978-448-0299 Executive Director………………………………………………[email protected] Nashua River Watershed Association 592 Main Street Groton, MA 01450 Richard Chase…………………………………………………… …………………508-767-2859 MADEP Quality Assurance Officer……………………………………………[email protected] Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection 8 New Bond St., Worcester, MA. 01606 Ted Walsh, Quality Assurance Officer…………………………………………….603-271-2083 New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services………………………[email protected] 29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95 Concord, NH 03301-0095 Carmen DeFillipo, Chief Operator…………………………………………………978-433-9859 Pepperell Wastewater Treatment Facility…………………[email protected] 47 Nashua Road P.O. Box 319 Pepperell, MA 01463 Shawn Meunier, SUEZ Project Manager………………………………………….978-772-4250 SUEZ operator of the………………………………………………………[email protected] Devens Wastewater Treatment Facility 85 Walker Road Shirley, MA 01464-2901 External Data Coordinator…………………………………………………[email protected] Massachusetts Department