Water quality measurements in Buzzards Bay by the Buzzards Bay Coalition Baywatchers Program from 1992 to 2018

Rachel W Jakuba,Hugh Ducklow,Christopher Neill,Brian L Howes,Lindsay Scott,Mark Rasmussen,Joseph E Costa,Matthew Erickson,Richard Mchorney,Tony Williams

doi:10.1038/s41597-021-00856-4

Abstract

The Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers Monitoring Program (Baywatchers) collected summertime water quality information at more than 150 stations around Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts from 1992 to 2018. Baywatchers documents nutrient-related water quality and the effects of nitrogen pollution. The large majority of stations are located in sub-estuaries of the main Bay, although stations in central Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound were added beginning in 2007. Measurements include temperature, salinity, Secchi depth and concentrations of dissolved oxygen, ammonium, nitrate + nitrite, total dissolved nitrogen, particulate organic nitrogen, particulate organic carbon, ortho-phosphate, chlorophyll a, pheophytin a, and in lower salinity waters, total phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon. The Baywatchers dataset provides a long-term record of the water quality of Buzzards Bay and its sub-estuaries. The data have been used to identify impaired waters, evaluate discharge permits, support the development of nitrogen total maximum daily loads, develop strategies for reducing nitrogen inputs, and increase public awareness and generate support for management actions to control nutrient pollution and improve water quality.

Highlights

Background & SummaryNutrient pollution is an important driver of water quality degradation in the U.S and around the world[1,2,3,4]
Nitrogen inputs are linked to greater phytoplankton growth, reduced water clarity, hypoxia, and declines in seagrass coverage, fish, and shellfish populations[5,6,7]
Because the magnitude and effects of nitrogen pollution vary with the characteristics of watersheds and receiving waters, water quality responses to nitrogen inputs—and potential strategies to mitigate those inputs—are site specific

Summary

Introduction

Background & SummaryNutrient pollution is an important driver of water quality degradation in the U.S and around the world[1,2,3,4]. The resulting monitoring program – Baywatchers – was modelled after other successful volunteer monitoring programs[12,13] that combine field measurements and sample collections by staff and trained citizens (monitors) with water sample analysis by a research laboratory. Twice in July and twice in August, monitors collect whole water and filtered water samples, transport them to a research laboratory for analysis of salinity, ammonium (NH4+), nitrate + nitrite (NO3− + NO2−), soluble reactive phosphorus (PO43−), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), particulate organic nitrogen (PON), particulate organic carbon (POC), chlorophyll a (Chl a) and pheophytin a (Pheo).

Results

Conclusion