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.

Extreme weather is the hallmark of climate change and we have seen wet winters and springs with more intense storms for at least the last three years.  On the flip side we have seen hotter dryer summers with droughts.

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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.

The TRWA held its Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 4th, 2017.  Senator Marc Pacheco and Karl Pastore, DCR South Region Director were our guest speakers.  Also, TRWA researcher Patty Levasseur gave an update on the TRWA’s population study of the Assonet Bay Diamond Back Terrapins.  

Priscilla Chapman, David Rosa, Craig Hefferman, T.J. Torees, and Carol Traverse were elected to the TRWA’s Board of Directors.  Approved for 2018 officers were Joe Callahan, President; Priscilla Chapman, Vice President; Richard Shafer, Treasurer; and … Continue reading →

The nitrate, total phosphorus and fecal coliform results for October have been added to the website’s 2017 monitoring results tracking table.

The nitrate and TP results are the results we watch most closely because these nutrients promote algae and undesirable weed growth adversely affecting water quality and the diversity of aquatic life that can thrive within our watershed. Better water quality equals more aquatic and wildlife diversity and more recreation opportunity on and along our waterways. In other words these are the water quality metrics we want to see improve by better wastewater treatment, improved stormwater management, better fertilizer … Continue reading →

On September 25th The Massachusetts Rivers Alliance, Taunton River Watershed Alliance (TRWA), and eight other watershed groups from across the state filed suit in Boston’s federal district court asking the court to vacate EPA’s one-year delay in implementing the state’s new stormwater permit.  Joining Mass Rivers and TRWA were watershed groups representing the Connecticut; Mystic; Merrimack; Ipswich; North and South; Jones; Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord; and Neponset Rivers.

“Stormwater is the state’s number one pollution problem,” said Mass Rivers Executive Director Julia Blatt, “and this permit is a product of extensive public input as well as eight long years of … Continue reading →

The August nitrate, total phosphorus, and fecal coliform sampling results have been added to our tracking table and the Water Quality Monitoring Program page of the website.

The results for nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) the pollutants that cause algae blooms and excess aquatic weed growth are worse (higher) than last month. Nitrogen in particular is many times higher than any reasonable instream water quality criterion would allow and many times our nitrate target for concern. Algae blooms and excessive plant growth is currently evident throughout the watershed.

This underscores the need for the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the … Continue reading →

Sixteen-year-old Tauri Adamczyk of Taunton caught a 7 pound, 14 ounce, 26.5 inches long Bowfin on July 23 in the Taunton River claiming the state record for this species. This species was added to MassWildlife’s state record keeping program which covers 23 fish species two years ago. See photo on MassWildlife website

The July sampling results are in and available at the Water Quality Monitoring Tab above (click on the sample bottles picture on the monitoring program home page).  While not as bad as last year’s dry year we are seeing nitrate values 2 to 3 times the water quality target value of 0.4 mg/l.  This underscores the need for wastewater treatment plants to continue with their programs to upgrade the plants to remove nitrogen and for municipalities, state agencies, and the public to identify ways to control nonpoint (a.k.a. non-wastewater treatment plant) sources of nitrogen.

The June 10 and 11 Wild and Scenic Run of River Canoe Trip was a great time with high river flows and spectacular weather both days (click on blog title for photos)!