Home > Projects > Science & Technical >
Stormwater
STORMWATER
Project Completed 2008 |
|
Project Background and Overview
Water
quality in the Charles River has significantly improved since 1995 when EPA Region-1 launched an ambitious effort
based on CRWA science to restore the Charles to fishable and swimmable
conditions by 2005. While much progress has
been made over the past ten years, especially in eliminating point source
discharges and reducing combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the river, water quality improvements have plateaued.
Long-term monitoring
conducted by CRWA shows that water quality in
the river continues to suffer from pollutant-laden discharges that cause
widespread violations of the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality
Standards. Combined sewer
overflows (CSO), illicit sewer connections and stormwater continue to impair the river’s water quality.
In 2005, the Massachusetts
Environmental Trust awarded both CRWA and the Mystic
River Watershed Association (MyRWA) funding to identify,
monitor and help eliminate non-point source (NPS) pollution still
threatening the health of the two rivers. This program had six major
goals:
- Identify potential sources of non-point source
pollution problems
- Track and monitor reported
or suspected non-point source pollution "hot spots"
- Guide the remediation of non-point source
pollution problems
- Guide water quality enforcement, as needed
- Engage and educate the public on non-point
source pollution issues
- Transfer project knowledge to others
This
program is currently completed. Read more
about our project results to learn how CRWA
accomplished these goals!
Back to top
Project Results
CRWA's work to find and fix non-point source pollution was
accomplished through five major tasks:
Visual
Monitoring
CRWA conducted comprehensive
shoreline surveys from Farm Road in Dover to the mouth of the
Charles at the New Charles River Dam. The visual monitoring effort covered over
half of the 80-mile river corridor (map).
These surveys act as a baseline assessment, noting locations and
conditions of outfall pipes, erosion problems and other indicators of
non-point source pollution problems and help identify and prioritize
problems of an urgent nature requiring immediate action.
Click here to see what visual shoreline survey results in
Google Earth™!
Complete results, including some results not available via our website
are also available in the Find It and Fix It Stormwater Program in
the Charles and Mystic River Watershed Final Report. To obtain
a copy of this report please contact Julie Wood.
Water
Quality Sampling
CRWA staff assessed the water quality of ten tributaries, many of which
we previously possessed minimal, recent water quality data. For
this project, CRWA targeted the tributaries found to be historically
polluted. Selection of these tributaries was based on visual
shoreline survey results, CRWA’s historical water quality data of these
tributaries, and recent water quality data collected by USGS, MassDEP,
EPA, and CRWA volunteer Roger Frymire. At each tributary specific
sampling locations were selected based on previous data, shoreline
survey results, accessibility and location of outfalls discharging into
the brook. Sampling sites were designed to capture a complete
picture of the entire tributary as well as to investigate certain areas
as potentially high pollutant loading.
Samples were collected at each site for various stormwater pollutants
including E. coli bacteria, total phosphorus, total suspended
solids, surfactants and petroleum products. Monitoring was
conducted during dry weather to establish baseline conditions of these
locations and then followed up with wet weather monitoring.
Sampling was typically conducted from upstream to downstream, unless
field conditions required a different procedure.
Click
here to see water quality sampling results.
Complete results, including some results not available via our website
are also available in the Find It and Fix It Stormwater Program in
the Charles and Mystic River Watershed Final Report. To obtain
a copy of this report please contact Julie Wood.
Working
With Municipalities and Other Agencies to Fix Problems
Through our visual and water quality monitoring, CRWA was able to
identify specific water quality issues requiring further investigation
and/or remediation. After problems were identified, CRWA worked to
guide the remediation of non-point source pollution by working with
municipalities, other land owners, and river partners. CRWA called
extensively upon our past experiences with watershed municipal officials
to guide remediation efforts. In all cases, CRWA brought the
problems identified to the attention of local and, if relevant, state or
federal agencies through written data reports. CRWA also made
every effort to meet with municipal officials to discuss potential
remediation steps.
Finally, CRWA researched intelligent remediation strategies and
facilitated educational opportunities for others to learn about these
opportunities. CRWA researched numerous low impact development
(LID) stormwater best management practices and created educational
printed materials to share with municipal officials and the general
public. CRWA also held educational seminars and field trips for
municipal officials in our watershed and beyond. These programs
were designed to educate municipal officials, specifically those who
work on stormwater issues.
Download
presentations from CRWA's Urban
Stormwater Management Seminar held on March 13, 2008.
Download copies of Low Impact Development
Best Management Practice Information Sheets shared with
municipal officials through this and other projects.
Complete results, including some results not available via our website
are also available in the Find It and Fix It Stormwater Program in
the Charles and Mystic River Watershed Final Report. To obtain
a copy of this report please contact Julie Wood.
Write and Publish Guidebook
The combined experiences of CRWA and MyRWA during
this project provide a valuable model for other environmental
organizations upon which
to base non-point source pollution reduction programs. CRWA and
MyRWA published a guidebook to provide detailed logistical
information on how to better manage key aspects of the program.
The Stormwater Assessment and Assisted Remediation Program (SAARP) Guidebook is available for download in Adobe Acrobat. If you have trouble downloading this guidebook please
contact Julie Wood.
Click on the link below to download the SAARP Guidebook and appendices.
Stormwater Assessment and Assisted Remediation Guidebook
Appendix
Appendix Table of Contents
Appendix 1: Shoreline Survey Data Sheet
Appendix 2: Sample Letter to River Abutters
Appendix 3: Sample Map and Table for Municipalities
Appendix 4: Sample Water Quality Monitoring Data Sheet
Appendix 5: Sample Data Report
Appendix 6: Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Practices Info Sheets
Appendix 7: Phosphorus in the Charles River: What You Should Know!
Appendix 8: Guide to Organizing a River Cleanup
Public
Outreach
Many aspects of this program involved outreach,
including efforts to recruit and train field reconnaissance teams, manage
volunteer monitors, publicize findings, and to encourage residents to
reduce non-point source pollution. The finals task, however, focused
especially on informing the public about non-point source pollution in
the Charles.
Results from visual and water quality monitoring highlighted the
effects of non-point source pollution in the
watershed. Numerous water quality impairments and riparian
area issues were observed, however; one issue that was consistently
observed to be a problem was nutrient loading. Shoreline
survey volunteers observed many areas where algae growth appeared to
be choking stream corridors, bright green lawns were abutting rivers
and streams, and grass clippings were being disposed of in rivers
and brook. Water quality monitoring revealed high total
phosphorus concentrations along every tributary CRWA monitored. None
of these tributaries have any point source discharges of phosphorus,
such as waste water treatment facility, therefore; CRWA assumed this
impairment to be solely the result of non-point sources.
Additionally, many nonpoint sources of phosphorus can be reduced
through lifestyles changes. For these reasons CRWA chose to
dedication much of our efforts in public outreach campaign to
educating the public about the nutrient loading problem in the
Charles River and how they can play an active role in addressing
this problem. To accomplish this CRWA held a workshop on
environmentally friendly landscaping, created an educational
brochure and developed a series of educational web pages.
Read about CRWA's Healthy Lawns
and Landscapes workshop held on May 6, 2008
Download CRWA's educational brochure Phosphorus in the Charles River:
What You Should Know!
Browse CRWA's
Phosphorus Education web page
Complete results, including some results not available via our website
are also available in the Find It and Fix It Stormwater Program in
the Charles and Mystic River Watershed Final Report. To obtain
a copy of this report please contact Julie Wood.
Back to top | Back to Project Results
Pollution Problems on the Charles
As
always, remember to report any suspicious discharges in the Charles River watershed to
CRWA at (781) 788-0007. To report water quality issues
in other watersheds or waterways, contact MA Department of Environmental
Protection's Strike Force at (617)
556-1000 or toll free (888) 846-5283.
Back to top | Back to Project Results
Stormwater Pollution
To
learn more about non-point source pollution and its impact on our local
waters, visit CRWA's Stormwater web pages.
Back to top | Back to Project Results
Non-Point Source Project Funders and Partners
 
ESRI and the ESRI Logo are licensed trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.
Last Updated December 2009
|
YOUR WATERSHED 
