The July nitrate, total phosphorus and fecal coliform bacteria monitoring results have been posted on the website under the Water Quality Monitoring tab at the top of the website home page. The results continue to show high nitrate levels as in past sampling. Total phosphorus levels were higher than July of 2016 and 2017.
Our monitoring continues to illustrate the importance of watershed wastewater treatment plants completing required upgrades to remove nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) as soon as possible as well as all watershed residents being careful to clean excess fertilizer off driveways or other hard surfaces after fertilizer application. Another source of nutrients is stormwater runoff. Measures to “soak up the rain” by letting stormwater runoff from hard surfaces infiltrate into the ground (infiltration Best Management Practices) also reduce instream nutrient levels and increase summer stream base flow resulting in a double environmental benefit.