The June monitoring data is available at the website Water Quality Monitoring Program tab above. River flows were still high as evident from the difficulty our canoe trip participants had making their way under the old Plymouth St. Bridge on the Nemasket River. Water temperatures were generally a couple of degrees warmer than last month.
We again had 100% coverage of all sampling location which is a tribute to the dedication of our volunteers! Despite the high flows mentioned we measured 10 exceedances of our nitrate target of 0.4 mg/l throughout the watershed and 2 exceedances of out total phosphorus target on the lower main stem of the Taunton.
Since our June 12th sampling the Taunton river watershed like all of Massachusetts has been experiencing dry conditions. River flows have begun to decrease and we are starting to see visual evidence of algae blooms. Our July 10 sampling will be important to document further exceedances of the EPA and MassDEP instream water quality targets referenced in the Fact Sheets for the last round of NPDES permit reissuances. TRWA monitoring documents the need for those municipalities that have not finished their plant upgrades to stay on schedule and for EPA and MassDEP to move forward with reissuance with the last two outdated permits in the watershed Somerset and Fall River.