Author: Stephen Silva

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.

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their plant upgrades to stay on schedule and for EPA and MassDEP to move forward with reissuance with the last two outdated permits in the watershed Somerset and Fall River.

Great weather and participation in this years two day canoe kayak trip made for a fun time for all!

The group started from Oliver Mill Park on Saturday, June 9th traveled down the Nemasket River to the Taunton River and on to historic Camp Titicut in Bridgewater a former Native American campsite. Several families and participants camped overnight.

On Sunday the campers were joined by new arrivals for the second leg of the trip from Camp Titicut in Bridgewater to the Taunton Riverfront Park at the Weirs where the TRWA sponsored Taunton River Festival was underway.

We had sample collection at 100% of sites again this May. Thank you to all the dedicated members of the TRWA Volunteer Monitoring Team!

The results look similar to April and May of 2016 and 2017 (past data on website) beginning to show some marginally high nitrate values on the main stem of the Taunton and lower Three Mile Rivers. Town River in Bridgewater spiked early this year to 0.9 mg/l (over twice our 0.4 mg/l target). In past years the Town River didn’t start to spike to high values until June or July. The Matfield River was high last month but low in May, We don’t know if the Brockton Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) started to experiment with better nitrogen removal in May.

We will continue to watch to see if nitrogen levels spike throughout the watershed from June/July to November as we have seen the past few years once river flow is lower. TRWA is the only one monitoring in the upper Taunton watershed on a regular basis. This monitoring is very important to understanding what is happening in the watershed and documenting the need for better nitrogen removal at WWTPs which dominate summer river flow and better stormwater control to reduce pollution and conserve groundwater for river base flow augmentation.

A piece of good news is despite high rainfall and river flows the fecal coliform levels on the days we tested were low both in April and May. This is good for recreation on the river so please check out our June 9 and 10 canoe/kayak trips on the website or our Facebook page

The TRWA monitoring team sampled all 20 monitoring sites in April!  The team did a great job in its first outing of the 2018 sampling season braving cold weather and high river flows.

Our April data indicated high nitrate levels at a number of locations even though dilution of WWTP effluent is at its highest now with rivers near flood stage.  If this year follows the pattern of 2016 and 2017 nitrate target violations will likely again be substantial from July through November peaking from August to October critical months for aquatic life in both the river and estuary.

Fortunately the watershed’s WWTPs are on compliance schedules to reduce nitrogen levels except Somerset (9+ years overdue) and Fall River (12+ years overdue).  We hope EPA and MassDEP will reissue these remaining long overdue permits soon.  We are also hopeful that municipalities and developers will do a better job addressing nutrients from stormwater discharges in the future.

The November Microbac results for nitrate, total phosphorus and fecal coliform the most important pollutant parameters we track have been received and added to our annual tracking table.

Stream flow on our sampling day (November 14th) was high due to the recent heavy rain and the water was cold. Despite the high dilution nitrate levels at the four main stem sampling locations were still high exceeding the water quality target 2 to 4 times. The lower Three Mile and Matfield locations were high as well (about 4 times the target).

The main stem had one total phosphorus target exceedance at Plain St in Taunton and was borderline at three other locations. The Town River while improved for nitrate was borderline for phosphorus.

Considering the high flows which can cause sewer system overflows and treatment plant bypasses the fecal coliform results looked generally good with the exception of a high level on the Town River at High St. in Bridgewater. This is encouraging.

Overall the results indicate that even at higher flow conditions the river carries enough treated effluent to exceed the instream targets used by MassDEP and EPA in Taunton River permitting. Middleboro recently completed their plant upgrade. As the other plants follow suit with upgrades to remove nitrogen and phosphorus over the next several years our monitoring will be important in tracking river nutrient levels.

On November 10, 2017 Mass Rivers, TRWA and eight other watershed groups filed for summary judgement in their stormwater permit delay lawsuit against EPA and EPA Administrator Scott Pruit.  The government response is due December 12, 2017.