NepRWA runs a water quality testing event every
6 weeks during the spring, summer and fall, that we call "CWMN" (pronounced swim’min), or Citizen Water
Monitoring Network.
CWMN is an EPA-approved, volunteer-based approach to water
quality monitoring. Active since 1995, CWMN provides critical
scientific data enabling NepRWA to advocate for the clean-up of
pollution sources. CWMN also promotes the creation of sustainable land and water use
policy in the 14 communities of the Neponset River Watershed.
What does CWMN test for?
One
morning, every other month, year-round, CWMN volunteers sample sites along the Neponset River, measuring: Air
& Water Temperature, Dissolved
Oxygen, pH, Fecal
Coliform bacteria, Total
Suspended Solids, Depth
and Flow, and Nutrients.
Learn about water
quality.
Read a report based on the results of citizen water-monitoring, the Boston
Harbor Watersheds Water Quality & Hydrologic Investigations
Report!
Why is water-monitoring needed?
Because
point
source and non-point source pollution enter the
Neponset River Watershed's water bodies and degrade
water quality, negatively impacting fisheries and wildlife habitat,
in addition to making recreational activities such as fishing,
swimming and boating unpleasant and/or unhealthy. Point
source pollution originates from a single, identifiable source, such
as a leaking sewer pipe, whereas non-point source pollution
originates from a variety of sources: fertilizers, ice-melt products
and pesticides from homes, oil
from roads, driveways and parking lots, and dog & goose waste that flow together to form
contaminated stormwater runoff.
Water
quality testing enables us to identify areas of water with high
levels of this pollution. Once we've identified such sites, we can
work toward finding the sources of pollution and stamping them
out.
How can I become a CWMN volunteer?
To
become a regular CWMN volunteer, you
would
attend sampling training and commit
to testing an assigned site. If
you'd like to become an
emergency contact volunteer instead - for instance,
filling-in for someone who cannot test her/his site, you'd conduct
Sampling Training and stay
on our phone list so we can contact you. Ideally,
you'd be available 6 - 8 A.M. on sampling days. The primary responsibility of an emergency contact
volunteer is to test one or more sites not covered by a regular
CWMN volunteer on the morning of the
sampling event. The emergency
contact volunteer would travel throughout the Watershed to these locations and
also be available for miscellaneous tasks the morning of the event.
To become a Dissolved Oxygen
(DO) Sampler, you'd need training to learn how to use the DO
meters.
Let us know if you're interested!
Contact Environmental Scientist Bill Guenther at 781-575-0354 or
guenther@neponset.org.
