Grantee Research Project Results
2001 Progress Report: Near-Real Time Monitoring of Inland Suburban Waterways: Application to Three Critical Environmental Issues Facing the North Shore/Metro Boston
EPA Grant Number: R828582Title: Near-Real Time Monitoring of Inland Suburban Waterways: Application to Three Critical Environmental Issues Facing the North Shore/Metro Boston
Investigators: Pancost, David , Vörösmarty, Charles J. , Hopkinson, Charles S , OConnor, Beth , Pellerin, Brian , Candamartori, Emily , Robinson, Keith , Mackin, Kerry , McClurg, Kevin , Tomczyk, Richard , Hallas-Burt, Shanna , Loder, Theodore , Henry, Tim , Wollheim, Wil
Current Investigators: Pancost, David , Vörösmarty, Charles J. , Hopkinson, Charles S , O'Connor, Beth , Lantagne, Daniele , Bade, Don , Robinson, Keith , Mackin, Kerry , Wollheim, Wil
Institution: Town of Ipswich, MA , United States Geological Survey , University of New Hampshire , Marine Biological Laboratory
Current Institution: Town of Ipswich, MA , United States Geological Survey , University of New Hampshire
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: December 1, 2000 through November 30, 2002
Project Period Covered by this Report: December 1, 2000 through November 30, 2001
Project Amount: $321,621
RFA: Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) (2000) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water , Air , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration
Objective:
The major objectives of this project are to: (1) develop the Ipswich Parker Suburban Watershed Channel (IPSWATCH) to provide via a Web interface, real-time monitoring information, archival data, maps, and other pertinent information to increase public awareness of environmental conditions in the Ipswich River and Parker River watersheds; (2) collect and analyze water quality information that affects water-related issues, including fish habitat quality, eutrophication, and high mercury levels in fish; and (3) create a dialog among scientists, local and state officials, volunteer organizations, and concerned citizens to increase awareness and better address environmental problems in the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds.
Progress Summary:
We established continuous monitoring of water quality at four freshwater sites in the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds. The four basins include two small headwater basins (one forested and one with intense residential development), and two medium-sized basins (one highly developed with high public water withdrawals and the other less developed with no public water withdrawals). The water quality instruments were deployed from the end of June to the end of December. Two of the sites were telemetered via cell phones. Monitoring information is available on the IPSWATCH Web Site. The YSI units monitored water depth, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity every 15-30 minutes throughout the deployment. Additional YSI deployments have been established at three locations in the Plum Island Sound estuary. Data are transmitted to the Plum Island Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) field station server and are available in real time. The YSI deployments yielded results useful from a scientific, and an educational/outreach standpoint. For example, conductivity in the developed headwater basin showed a brief spike during storm flow before being diluted, indicating when contaminants are being flushed from impervious surfaces to streams. This information could help determine when to sample during storm events to quantify contaminant inputs to streams. We plan to use this and numerous other examples to clearly describe the linkage between human activity and water quality to the public via the IPSWATCH Web Page.
The Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) and Parker River Cleanwater Association (PRCWA) continued their ongoing volunteer monitoring program. Nutrient samples were collected at the standard sample stations, and at an additional 65 headwater sites in the Parker and Ipswich River watersheds. The headwater sites were selected to evaluate the effect of land use change on nutrient loading. Results are being posted on the IPSWATCH Web Site. There was a strong relationship between nitrate levels and human dominated land uses (primarily residential, but also agricultural and industrial/commercial). Nitrate concentrations in headwater streams most likely elevated when human dominated land use was greater than 30 percent of the watershed area, and almost certain when greater than 60 percent. This type of information might be used for determining land management practices that minimize nutrient loads.
One of the major issues facing the Ipswich River Watershed is high mercury levels in fish. An atmospheric Hg deposition monitor was installed in January 2002, at the Beverly Airport, and will be maintained until September 30, 2002, by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Results from this monitor will be posted on the Ipswich/ Parker EMPACT Web Page starting in spring 2002. This monitoring will be part of a four-site atmospheric monitoring network implemented by the USGS in the Boston metropolitan area and central New Hampshire.
Data holdings from the Marine Biological Laboratory, USGS, IRWA, and PRCWA were compiled, standardized, and made available in ASCII or graphical form on the IPSWATCH Web Site. In addition, these data sets were put into a geographical information systems framework to allow clickable access to site-specific information via the Web site.
The goal of the IPSWATCH Web Site is to provide "one stop shopping" for environmental information for the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds, and to provide this information in a manner useful to scientists, managers, and concerned citizens. On our homepage, we publicize and make available recent reports and advisories. Currently, we highlight two reports published in the last 2 months, as well as the drought advisory presently in effect. We are developing a password protected upload system that will allow project partners to update this type of information remotely, ensuring timely incorporation to the site.
We include introductory material such as an overview of the project, project goals, a summary of water quality standards as defined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a graphical definition of a watershed, summary statistics for the Ipswich and Parker River Watersheds, and our original proposal to the EMPACT program. The real-time monitoring section incorporates all the real-time monitoring currently underway in the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds. This includes the four freshwater YSI units maintained by UNH, three estuarine water quality units maintained by MBL in Plum Island Sound, three discharge and precipitation gages maintained by the USGS, and a weather station maintained by MBL. This information is made available via clickable image maps. A variety of archival and near real-time information is available in this section via image maps, allowing the user to select information for desired locations. The entire period of record from the Ipswich River Watershed Association Riverwatch Program (1997 to present) is available. The analogous data set for the Parker River currently is being developed. Results of nutrient surveys begun in 2001 under EMPACT also are being made available in this section as well. We hope that by providing a resource for recreational activities, we can at the same time educate the public about the relationship between a healthy watershed and its ability to support outdoor activities.
Development of the IPSWATCH Web Site was our primary outreach activity. We held meetings among all the partner groups to establish recommendations and priorities for Web development and the monitoring programs. UNH and MBL attended Watershed Association monitoring workshops to introduce the nutrient-monitoring program and discuss its usefulness. We interacted significantly with local residents to select locations for the YSI deployments. These conversations provided valuable insight into local conditions that improved the overall deployment of the units. The IPSWATCH Web Site was publicized in the two watershed association newsletters and the Town of Ipswich quarterly newsletter.
Future Activities:
In 2002, we plan on continuing the monitoring as established in 2001. We also plan to improve the telemetry system. Although two of the YSI units were telemetered with cell phones, we did not receive data regularly due to poor cell phone coverage. Should this problem persist, we will telemeter one of the other YSI units. We also will develop a more robust interface between the telemetry and the Web site. We will publicize the Web site and the information content to the public, by demonstrating the Web site at meetings of the watershed associations, local town meetings, watershed festivals, and other venues. We will pursue local newspaper contacts for feature articles, particularly for the spring when we deploy the equipment for a second season. We will populate the Web site with more information explained in terms useful to non-technically oriented lay public and public officials. The Web site will be reorganized so that it is issue oriented rather than data oriented. In addition, we plan to hold a 2-day meeting to bring together the community of scientists and organizations working in the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds to summarize findings of work in the two watersheds. The goal of the meeting is to establish how scientific information can be used to increase awareness of water quantity and quality issues.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 16 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
water, drinking water, watersheds, precipitation, chemical transport, ecological effects, human health, heavy metals, pathogens, discharge, aquatic, ecosystem, indicators, sustainable development, ecology, hydrology, environmental chemistry, modeling, monitoring, analytical, northeast, EPA Region 1, Massachusetts, MA, atmospheric mercury deposition., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Air, Toxics, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Hydrology, Nutrients, Environmental Chemistry, Chemistry, climate change, HAPS, Air Pollution Effects, Monitoring/Modeling, Wet Weather Flows, Atmosphere, Mercury, Pathology, ecological risk assessment, aquatic ecosystem, EMPACT, hydrologic dynamics, environmental monitoring, dissolved organic matter, fate and transport, hydrological stability, nutrient supply, nutrient transport, inland suburban waterways, hydrocarbon, ecosystem evaluation, mechanistic-based watershed modeling, runoff, geo-spatial internet system, public information, community based, public reporting, pooled data resources, web site development, water quality, nutrient cycling, hydrocarbons, storm drainage, stormwater runoff, nutrient transport model, public health alertsRelevant Websites:
http://www.ipswatch.sr.unh.edu Exit
http://www.gm-wics.sr.unh.edu Exit
http://www.pielter.org Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.