Category: Watershed News

Watershed News: Events, etc.

April Water Quality Monitoring Results

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April was the first month of the TRWA 2026 water quality monitoring season. The numeric results are on our Monitoring Results website page.

The results for nitrate downstream of the Brockton wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) were higher than the Mount Hope Bay water quality target of total nitrogen 0.45 mg/l however by the downstream Church St sampling station in Raynham the river met this criterion. The results for total phosphorus were all below the EPA Gold Book freshwater stream criterion of 0.100 mg/l with the highest values below the Brockton WWTP. The bacteria levels exceeded the EPA enterococci water quality criterion of 35 colony forming units (CFU) at five locations but by much smaller amounts than we often saw last summer. The highest was at Church St in Raynham a short distance below an area where townhouse construction is underway relatively close to the river bank.
 
It is noteworthy that at the beginning of April river flow was 1250 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at the USGS Bridgewater gauge. The day we sampled (4/14/26) river flow was 621 cfs. The beginning of May river flow was only 294 cfs. The mid range river flow when we sampled and the fact that it had been two weeks since significant rainfall which brings stormwater pollution and bacteria into the river all contributed to the relatively good water quality results measured in April. In May we are seeing the river return to a flow level comparable to what we saw in May 2025 when the river flow eventually declined into severe drought conditions of around 50 cfs from August through early October. It will be important to see if drought flows return to the watershed’s rivers and streams in 2026 and if we monitor the same adverse water quality impact of low flows coupled with stormwater pollution from intense short duration storm events. These summer storm events, a product of global warming, deliver pollution but do little to quench the thirst of the watershed’s rivers and groundwater table.
 
Because of the outsized adverse impact of stormwater pollution on our water quality TRWA supports the  Watershed Protection Standard (WPS) in partnership with the Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Network, the watershed’s Regional Planning Agencies and our Environmental Organization partners. To address the twin challenges of development and climate change municipalities need support in adopting the latest science and techniques which allow new development to: maintain pre-development groundwater recharge volume, maintain pre-development nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) export loads from the site, and maintain a resilient landscape as determined by response to extreme storms and manage runoff to pre-development volume.

Volunteers Needed! Become a Water Quality Sampler!

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Help Protect the Water Quality of the Taunton River and its Tributaries

Water Quality Monitoring Training Session

Saturday, April 4th 2026  – 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

TRWA’s Watershed Center, Sweets Knoll State Park, 1387 Somerset Ave. Dighton, MA

(on Rt 138 just south of the Bristol Aggie Center Street traffic light)

Register HERE for Water Quality Sampler Training

The Taunton River Watershed Alliance has tested water quality in the Taunton Wild & Scenic River and its tributaries since its inception in 1988. This watershed resident collected data is an incredible tool as a historic picture of the watershed’s health. It helps keep the spotlight on areas and actions needed for further improvement. This year, Water Quality Monitoring begins on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. We need your help to continue recording this very important data.

The information gathered shows that ongoing efforts to clean up the river are necessary and effective. Each bucket of water pulled up to be tested can have national implications and must be continued to keep our water clean and our 43 communities informed and accountable.

In 2025 our volunteers collected important data documenting the impact of global warming induced intense rainstorms and drought. Additionally, our data results were used to support the EPA’s Clean Water Act (CWA) permits for both Somerset and Fall River (read our submitted comments).

TRWA currently has 30 sample collection volunteers who work in 9 teams collecting samples from 20 locations from Berkley to Bridgewater the second Tuesday morning of each month from April through October. Volunteer teams collect samples from 2 or 3 locations bringing samples back to the Taunton wastewater treatment plant by 8:30 am.

No technical training or education is required, just a desire to be part of an important effort with good people who want to improve local water quality. We provide the training, pair new people with veteran volunteers, and explain the results and their importance.

If you know anyone who might like to be part of an important effort to safeguard our water, please invite them to the training. We are looking for new volunteers to replace some samplers who have moved out of the area and to make some of our teams a little bigger. The flyer for the training may be found here.

If you have any questions, or want to participate but can’t make the April 4th training date, no worries! Just contact  Steve Silva, monitoring program coordinator, at ssilva@savethetaunton.org.

Latest testing results can be found here.

We are also looking for donations for this program to help defray the cost of testing supplies.

 

Register HERE for Water Quality Sampler Training

 

Water Quality Monitoring Program

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The Primary water quality problems in the Taunton River Watershed are driven by excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), bacteria, stormwater runoff, droughts, and floods.

To gauge the health of our water- ways, a dedicated crew of 30 volunteers work in 9 teams performing monthly testing at twenty sites on the Taunton River and tributaries, measuring levels of nitrate, total phosphorus, bacteria, dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature.

Global warming is causing more extreme weather. Larger winter/spring floods along with sea level rise followed by more severe summer heat waves and droughts punctuated by short high intensity rainstorms which add pulses of polluted stormwater to our rivers but do little to restore river flow or recharge groundwater supplies.

Working to improve water quality the five upriver wastewater treatment plants (Brockton, Mansfield, Middleborough, Bridgewater and Taunton) have upgraded to reduce nitrogen.

The four plants that discharge to the freshwater portion of the watershed upstream of Taunton except Bridgewater (scheduled for 5/01/2027) also remove phosphorus. EPA recently reissued the Somerset permit with a schedule to remove nitrogen by 6/01/2030 and has a similar permit for Fall River off public notice awaiting reissuance.

One of the biggest TRWA monitored problem pollutants in the watershed is excess nitrogen loading which is improving with the wastewater treatment plants upgrades. Other sources of nitrogen include stormwater run-off, excess lawn/turf/crop fertilization (especially application of fertilizer, on sidewalks, roads and driveways), pet wastes, failing septic systems, stream bank erosion, stream buffer loss, and poor manure management from farming. Now that the upriver plants are removing phosphorus, we more clearly see the serious remaining problems from stormwater runoff contributing both phosphorus and bacteria after the high intensity short duration rainstorms occurring in summer with global warming.


Are You Interested in Becoming a Volunteer?

Volunteer Sign-Up

Trained volunteers sample five locations on the main stem of the Taunton River and 15 tributary locations in the morning on the second Tuesday of each month from April to October. Samples are delivered to the lab before 8:30 AM.

  • Teams of 2 or 3 people sample 1 to 3 sites each so each sampler and sampling location has back up(s) for vacations, etc.
  • Samples are usually taken from bridge location sidewalks using a rope and plastic bucket. Filled sample bottles are put in a plastic cooler and transported to the lab for analysis or pick up. The TRWA website has one page instructions for all aspects of sampling.
  • It takes about 10 minutes at each site to fill lab provided bottles for nitrate, total phosphorus, and enterococci bacteria (our most important samples), as well as a larger bottle for pH, and a special glass bottle for dissolved oxygen. Samplers also measure river temperature with a thermometer and note the sampling time on the sample bottles and our chain of custody form.
  • If samplers see a problem such as algae bloom, they are encouraged to take a picture with their smartphone.
  • Nitrate, total phosphorus, and enterococci bacteria are analyzed by a MassDEP certified contract lab (Microbac in Dayville, CT), dissolved oxygen, and pH are analyzed by Veolia North America at the Taunton WWTP lab

Training for volunteers is generally held the last Saturday morning in March from 9:30 AM – Noon (watch our website for details).

We want new volunteers to increase the size of our teams. The folks who do the sampling find it fun and educational to get out on the river to see what is happening in the early morning hours from 5:30 to 8:00 AM (sample drop off time is by 8:30 AM). It is a good way to learn how the rivers in our watershed are doing, what needs to be done to improve them and meet some really nice people.

Current and historic test results are found on our website at:

https://savethetaunton.org/water-quality-monitoring/water-quality-results/

For information on watershed water quality issues and their solutions visit: savethetaunton.org/water-quality-monitoring/

 

PDF version: TRWA Water Quality Monitoring Program

October Water Quality Monitoring Results

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October was the last sampling month of the TRWA 2025 sampling season. I want to thank our volunteers for a very successful season where not a single sample was missed! I hope our samplers are able to attend TRWA’s annual meeting on Saturday, November 1st at Bristol Aggie, 4:00 to 6:30 PM so we can recognize your great work!
 
In October we caught a large rainstorm. As shown on the Bridgewater USGS River Flow Gage, two days before we sampled river flow was only 81 cubic feet per second (cfs). The storm on 10/13 which lasted into the morning we sampled (10/14) brought river flow up to 743 cfs when we sampled.
 
The storm brought higher dilution of wastewater treatment plant effluent resulting in lower nitrogen levels. Stormwater pollution raised total phosphorus levels and very dramatically increased bacteria (enterococci) levels at all sampling locations.
  
The biggest water quality problem in our watershed is bacteria levels with almost all monitoring stations exceeding the enterococci water quality criterion of 35 colony forming units (CFU) by large amounts after rainstorms. This is a result of lack of stormwater treatment by green infrastructure such as infiltration basins, infiltration trenches, rain gardens, tree filters, etc. in the watershed. Stormwater infiltration even if there is only physical space for an undersized unit that captures and treats the first flush is effective for bacteria and phosphorus control. In addition, a significant increase in watershed stormwater infiltration is needed to address the low groundwater, water supply and stream flow issues we see every summer as a result of global warming.
 
Because of TRWA documented water quality standards violations caused by stormwater throughout the Taunton River watershed, TRWA believes EPA should use its “residual designation authority” to regulate large non-regulated commercial stormwater sources in our watershed. The Clean Water Act (CWA) recognizes that other stormwater sources may need to be regulated on a case-by-case or category-by-category basis based on additional information or localized conditions. The authority to regulate other sources based on the localized adverse impact of stormwater on water quality through CWA permits is commonly referred to as the “Residual Designation” authority.
 
We are always looking for new water quality sampling volunteers. Training for new volunteers and refresher training for current volunteers is 9:30 AM the last Saturday morning in March 2026 at our Sweets Knoll Watershed Center. Sampling is done by nine teams of samplers on the second Tuesday morning of each month from April through October.

September Water Quality Monitoring Results

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In September as shown on the Bridgewater USGS River Flow Gage, the drought in our watershed continued despite two significant short storms of moderate intensity. On 9/6 three days before we sampled, the Taunton River flow was only 54 cubic feet per second (cfs) a very low flow for this river comparable to any drought low flow we have seen in the last two years. On 9/7 a storm brought flow up to 210 cfs but because the river has not recovered from 2024 drought conditions and low water table the river flow quickly dropped to 119 cfs by 9/9 the morning we sampled. After brief intense storms the river flow quickly rises then quickly falls. This pattern is the classic signature of a river and watershed in drought condition.
 
As discussed last month the weather pattern we are seeing is very close to that predicted by global warming models for our area. These models predict late winter early spring heavy rain and potential flooding followed by drought. On May 24, 2025 river flow was 2,260 cfs with brief concerns of flooding however because the watershed had not recovered from drought in 2024 river flow dropped quickly. Global warming induces hot dry summers punctuated by brief intense rainstorms which can cause short term local flooding and wind damage. But as we see from the record these brief summer rainstorms don’t replenish watershed groundwater and base river flows which drop quickly after the storms. These summer storms do deliver stormwater runoff pollution to rivers and streams. As the rest of the U.S. and countries of the world are seeing extreme weather is the calling card of global warming. 
 
The results for September as a consequence of low river flow show somewhat higher levels of nitrogen likely due to less river dilution of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent and the fact that many lawn companies and homeowners are applying fall fertilizer applications not only to lawns but roadways and sidewalks. The rain before we sampled washes this “lawn” nitrogen into the river.
 
In most locations Total Phosphorus was below our water quality target. Total Phosphorus was high in the Town River because Bridgewater has not completed the phosphorus removal upgrade required by 5/01/2027 in their Clean Water Act (CWA) permit. Phosphorus was no longer high in the Segregansett River possibly due to the Segregansett Golf Course not applying starter fertilizer containing phosphorus. It was elevated in Berkley as well, possibly because the Taunton WWTP is not required to remove phosphorus because it discharges to tidal brackish water where nitrogen is considered the nutrient of most concern.
 
Like the previous four months, the low river flows and warm temperatures resulted in bacteria (enterococci) water quality standards violations in almost all sampling locations. The magnitude of violations was higher in many locations because we were sampling two days after a rainstorm. Even though we had missed the first flush of the highest concentration of stormwater pollutants by a couple of days the bacteria violations were significant. 
 
Typically the biggest water quality problem in our watershed is bacteria levels with almost all monitoring stations exceeding the enterococci water quality criterion of 35 colony forming units (CFU) by large amounts after rainstorms. This is a result of lack of stormwater treatment by green infrastructure such as infiltration basins, infiltration trenches, rain gardens, tree filters, etc. in the watershed. Stormwater infiltration even if there is only physical space for an undersized unit that captures and treats the first flush is effective for bacteria and phosphorus control.
 
Because of TRWA documented water quality standards violations caused by stormwater throughout the Taunton River watershed TRWA believes EPA should use its “residual designation authority” to regulate large non-regulated commercial stormwater sources in our watershed. The Clean Water Act (CWA) recognizes that other stormwater sources may need to be regulated on a case-by-case or category-by-category basis based on additional information or localized conditions. The authority to regulate other sources based on the localized adverse impact of stormwater on water quality through CWA permits is commonly referred to as the “Residual Designation” authority.
 
Our next sampling day is Tuesday, October 14th. We will be watching to see if river flow continues low. If there is a brief rainstorm just prior to our sampling, whether it delivers enough stormwater pollution to cause high magnitude bacteria water quality standards violations and how river temperature affects our bacteria results.

August Water Quality Monitoring Results

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In August as shown on the Bridgewater USGS River Flow Gage, the river flow had been steadily falling since we sampled in July 151 cubic feet per second (cfs)  to in August 57 cfs. As illustrated by the USGS flow hydrograph the Taunton River watershed is currently in drought condition. After brief intense storms the river flow quickly rises then quickly falls. This pattern is the classic signature of a river and watershed in drought condition.
 
As discussed last month the weather pattern we are seeing is very close to that predicted by global warming models for our area. These models predict late winter early spring heavy rain and potential flooding followed by drought. On May 24, 2025 river flow was 2,260 cfs with brief concerns of flooding however because the watershed had not recovered from drought in 2024 river flow dropped quickly. Global warming induces hot dry summers punctuated by brief intense rainstorms which can cause short term local flooding and wind damage. But as we see from the record these brief summer rainstorms don’t replenish watershed groundwater and base river flows which drop quickly after the storms. These summer storms do deliver stormwater runoff pollution to rivers and streams. As the rest of the U.S. and countries of the world are seeing extreme weather is the calling card of global warming. 
 
The results for August as a consequence of low river flow show high levels of nitrogen below the Brockton and Bridgewater wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). By Raynham nitrate levels had fallen to just above our target instream level of 0.4 mg/l. Nitrate levels in Taunton and Berkley were low indicating the recently upgraded Taunton WWTP is doing very well and the benefit of additional dilution.
 
Total Phosphorus was high in the Town River because Bridgewater has not completed the phosphorus removal upgrade required by 5/01/2027 in their CWA permit. Phosphorus was also high in the Segregansett River possibly due to the Segregansett Golf Course applying starter fertilizer containing phosphorus. It was elevated in Berkley as well, possibly because the Taunton WWTP is not required to remove phosphorus because it discharges to tidal brackish water where nitrogen is considered the nutrient of most concern.
 
The low river flows and warm temperatures resulted in bacteria (enterococci) water quality standards violations in almost all sampling locations but the magnitude of violations was smaller than last month because of lack of rain washing bacteria contaminated stormwater into the rivers. Typically the biggest water quality problem in our watershed is bacteria levels with almost all monitoring stations exceeding the enterococci water quality criterion of 35 colony forming units (CFU) by large amounts after rainstorms. This is a result of lack of stormwater treatment by green infrastructure such as infiltration basins, infiltration trenches, rain gardens, tree filters, etc. in the watershed. Stormwater infiltration even if there is only physical space for an undersized unit that captures and treats the first flush is effective for bacteria and phosphorus control.
 
Because of TRWA documented water quality standards violations caused by stormwater throughout the Taunton River watershed TRWA believes EPA should use its “residual designation authority” to regulate large non-regulated commercial stormwater sources in our watershed. The Clean Water Act (CWA) recognizes that other stormwater sources may need to be regulated on a case-by-case or category-by-category basis based on additional information or localized conditions. The authority to regulate other sources based on the localized adverse impact of stormwater on water quality through NPDES permits is commonly referred to as the “Residual Designation” authority.
 
Our next sampling day is Tuesday, September 9th. We will be watching to see if river flow continues low. If there is a brief rainstorm just prior to our sampling, whether it delivers enough stormwater pollution to cause high magnitude bacteria water quality standards violations.
 

July Water Quality Monitoring Results

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The water quality monitoring results for July are available on the website. Click the Monitoring Tab at the top of the TRWA home page and click on either the sample bottles picture or the link further down the page under Documents to find the result on the website. 
 
In July as shown on the Bridgewater USGS River Flow Gage, the day before we sampled the river it was at a relatively low flow of only 87.3 cubic feet per second (cfs). The night before we sampled there was a brief intense rainstorm that ended just before we went out to sample. This storm increased river flow to 151 cfs when we sampled. Brief intense rainfall during summer droughts runs off quickly and doesn’t soak into the ground sufficiently to replenish groundwater and river base flow so after the storm river flow drops relatively quickly. The day after we sampled, river flow was down to 103 cfs. We saw a few other brief intense rainstorms in July but each time the river flow dropped quickly. Currently 7/21/25  despite a brief storm last night river flow is only 100 cfs.
 
The weather pattern we are seeing is very close to that predicted by global warming models for our area. These models predict late winter early spring heavy rain and potential flooding followed by hot dry summers punctuated by brief intense rainstorms which can cause short term local flooding and wind damage. These brief summer rainstorms don’t replenish river flows which drop quickly after the storms and deliver stormwater runoff pollution to rivers and streams. Extreme weather is the calling card of global warming but fortunately New England isn’t seeing the extreme heat, floods and hail reported in other parts of the country recently. As discussed below, rainstorm timing and river flow are important elements to interpreting TRWA monitoring results.
 
The results for July as a consequence of lower river flow and stormwater pollution loading are not as good as last month. We saw higher nitrate levels below the Brockton and the Bridgewater wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) but fortunately by the time the river reached just below the Taunton WWTP the river was close to its water quality target for Mount Hope Bay protection. Phosphorus levels were high in a couple of places likely caused by urban stormwater runoff and the fact that Bridgewater has not completed its phosphorus removal upgrade scheduled for completion by 5/01/2027. The biggest problem was bacteria levels with all monitoring stations exceeding the enterococci water quality criterion of 35 colony forming units (CFU) by large amounts. This is a result of lack of stormwater treatment by green infrastructure such as infiltration basins, infiltration trenches (rain gardens, tree filters, etc.) in the watershed. Stormwater infiltration even if there is only physical space for an undersized unit that captures and treats the first flush is effective for bacteria and phosphorus control if widely practiced.
 
Because of TRWA documented water quality standards violations caused by stormwater throughout the Taunton River watershed TRWA believes EPA should use its “residual designation authority” to regulate large non-regulated commercial stormwater sources in our watershed. The Clean Water Act (CWA) recognizes that other stormwater sources may need to be regulated on a case-by-case or category-by-category basis based on additional information or localized conditions. The authority to regulate other sources based on the localized adverse impact of stormwater on water quality through NPDES permits is commonly referred to as the “Residual Designation” authority.
 
Our next sampling day is Tuesday, August 12th. We will be watching to see if river flow continues to decrease. If there is a brief rainstorm just prior to our sampling, whether it delivers enough stormwater pollution to cause water quality standards violations.

June Water Quality Monitoring Results

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The water quality monitoring results for June are available on the website. Click the Monitoring Tab at the top of the TRWA home page and click on either the sample bottles picture or the link further down the page under Documents to see the results.
 
In June as show on the Bridgewater USGS River Flow Gage, the month started with a relatively high river flow of 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) but the flow fell steadily until a storm on June 7 and 8th brought flow back up to 606 cfs. When we sampled two days later on June 10th flow was 529 cfs. Since that time, river flow has decreased steadily. On June 23rd, flow was only 187 cfs. As mentioned last month, rainstorm timing and river flow are important elements to interpreting our results.
 
The results for June look generally good, except for six bacteria violations (greater than 80 CFU/100 ml) downstream of urban areas. We used to be concerned about the wastewater treatment plant discharges during summer low flow, however now that the five upriver plants have been upgraded this should be a smaller concern. We haven’t sampled on a low enough river flow day to see if this is true.
 
The more pressing concern today is pollution in urban stormwater runoff. When we sampled in June, we were again sampling 2 days after a storm which significantly raised river flow. As a consequence, we missed the most polluted first flush of stormwater runoff. Nevertheless, we measured bacteria water quality criteria violations downstream of urban areas.
 
Our next sampling day is Tuesday, July 8th. We will be watching to see if river flow continues to decrease to typical summer low flow conditions. If there is a brief rainstorm just prior to our sampling, whether it delivers a measurable load of stormwater pollution.

May TRWA Water Quality Monitoring Data Available

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The water quality monitoring results for May are available. Click the link here or visit our Monitoring Tab at the top of the TRWA home page and click on either the sample bottles picture or the link further down the page under Documents.
 
In May, as show on the Bridgewater USGS River Flow Gage the month started with a relatively low river flow of only 274 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Friday 5/9, this was followed by a large storm Saturday 5/10 which by Sunday 5/11 brought river flow up to 947 cfs. We sampled on Tuesday 5/13 as river low was dropping to 655 cfs. By 5/22 river flow had dropped back to 278 cfs however later that day and through much of the next day we had a large rainstorm which has brought the river up to over 2000 cfs . Rainstorm timing and river flow are important elements to interpreting our results.
 
The results for May look generally good, except for five bacteria violations (greater than 80 CFU/100 ml) downstream of urban areas. We used to be concerned about the wastewater treatment plant discharges during summer low flow, however now that the five upriver plants have been upgraded this should be a smaller concern. The river had ample flow at 655 cfs to dilute the wastewater treatment plant effluents. The more pressing concern today is pollution in urban stormwater runoff. When we sampled in May we were 2 days after the storm which greatly raised river flow. As a consequence, we missed the most polluted first flush of stormwater runoff. Nevertheless, we measured bacteria water quality criteria violations downstream of urban areas.
 
Our next sampling day is Tuesday, June 10th. We will be watching how quickly river flow decreases from the high flow we saw after the 5/23 rainstorm and if there is significant rain a short time prior to our sampling day, which generates a pulse of stormwater pollution.
 

April 2025 TRWA Water Quality Monitoring Results Available

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The TRWA water quality monitoring results for April are available. The results may be found on our website here and at the Water Quality Monitoring Tab by clicking on the sample bottles picture or the link further down the page under Documents.
 
As evident in the nightly news, global warming is affecting the world’s weather. In the western United States, we see drought and wildfires. In the Gulf states, we see rapidly intensifying hurricanes due to the warmth of Gulf waters. We are seeing an unprecedented number of tornadoes and floods in the south and mid-section of the country. Warm air holds much more moisture than cool air, so when the warm air picks up moisture from warmer than historical ocean waters it carries a lot of moisture with it until it encounters cooler air coming down from the north, setting up a battle of the air masses along a front. This results in violent weather, tornadoes and flooding like we have recently seen along the Mississippi River.
 
In New England, Massachusetts and the Taunton watershed, global warming has changed our weather pattern as well, however, not as dramatically as many other parts of the country. Our new weather pattern has more intense but relatively short duration rainstorms in winter through early spring, followed by hot summers and drought punctuated by very short duration intense rainstorms. Short duration summer rainstorms give the rivers in the watershed a dose of polluted stormwater runoff (which we measure as high bacteria with spikes in phosphorus and nitrogen). These summer short intense rainstorms are not sufficient to restore the groundwater level needed to supply summer river flow between storms, resulting in low river flow.
 
TRWA’s sampling team is measuring how these changes affect the water quality of the rivers in our watershed each month. The information collected underscores the need for action to mitigate the impacts of our new climate and river flow regime. These measures include conserving water and encouraging rainwater to go back into the ground rather than running off quickly.
 
In April, we sampled shortly after a small rainstorm, so river flow measured at the USGS Gage in Bridgewater was moderately high at 675 cubic feet per second (cfs). The results for total nitrogen downstream of the Brockton WWTP were higher than we would like to see, however their total nitrogen effluent limitation is seasonal from May 1 to October 31, so this is not unexpected. The total phosphorus levels measured looked ok. Bacteria (enterococci) had a significant number of state water quality criteria exceedances, likely due to urban stormwater runoff.