Connecticut River Water Quality Monitoring Project

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Results

Tri State Connecticut River Initiative Web Site

Project Background

This water quality monitoring project is conducted by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Connecticut River Watershed Council in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center. Monitoring for the 2010 and 2011 season is made possible by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) through a section 604B Water Quality Management and Planning Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The monitoring project examines water temperature and bacteria at eight recreational sites along the Connecticut River mainstem, one site along the Chicopee River, and multiple sites on other tributaries throughout the Connecticut River’s watershed in Massachusetts.

Regular water quality monitoring on the Connecticut River began in 2008 and 2009 with a Targeted Watershed Initiative grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At that time, monitoring covered 26 sites along the Connecticut River. The sites monitored were between Turners Falls and Greenfield, Massachusetts, between White River Junction, New Hampshire, and Hartford, Vermont, and between Chicopee and Holyoke, Massachusetts. Before this initiative was implemented, the information available on the water quality of the Connecticut River had been limited. Previous data indicate that in many urbanized areas, the river’s bacterial contamination is often found to be exceptionally high during wet weather events and therefore is made unsuitable for recreational use.

Data generated by the Connecticut River Water Quality Monitoring Project is providing a more complete picture of the river’s health and understanding about sources of contamination. This will be useful not only to recreational users who have direct contact with the waters, but to local, state, and federal officials in addressing combined sewer overflow discharges and stormwater flows

Bacteria Monitoring

The results are updated after sampling is completed on Wednesdays and are color coded according to EPA Recommendations for E. coli levels (see below). The results are available to the public and can be found here.

For questions or comments, please contact Anne Capra from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commissio: Acapra@PVPC.org

Massachusetts Criteria  for E. coli1 (Escherichia coli; units = colonies/100ml):
Geometric mean2	Single sample maximum	Appropriate Recreational Use 3
<  126	235	suitable for primary water contact (swimming)

1. See Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Pollution Control: 314cmr4.05(3)(b)4
2. Geometric mean of 5 or more samples taken within a 60 day period for Massachusetts.
3. Levels are indicated for Class B waters. The Connecticut River in Massachusetts is designated as a class B waterway.

EPA Recommendations  for E. coli (Escherichia coli; units = colonies/100ml):
Single sample maximum	Appropriate Recreational Use
235	suitable for primary water contact (swimming)
236-298	moderate full body contact recreation
299-409	lightly used full body contact recreation
410-575	infrequently used full body contact recreation
>576	unsuitable for recreation (no boating or swimming)

"w" next to E. coli count signifies wet weather event (>0.1 inches of rain in 24 hours)
ns = not sampled, nd= no data, TNTC = too numerous to count
* Time period between 8/24/2011 and 9/14/2011 no sampling was conducted due to Tropical Storm Irene and the resulting tributary flooding.

"w" next to E. coli count signifies wet weather event (>0.1 inches of rain in 24 hours)
ns = not sampled, nd= no data, TNTC = too numerous to count

Early 2008 Results

Late 2008 Results

Early 2009 Results

Late 2009 Results

2010 Results

The above table presents 2010 E. coli bacteria data in number of colonies per 100ml of water. The sites are listed from downstream (top of the table) to upstream (bottom of the table), so you can visualize how E.coli counts vary from the southern most reach to the northern most reach of river we are sampling. Color codes indicate which single sample maximum value range each result falls into, as listed in the EPA Recommendations  for E. coli table.

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