2016 proved to be another successful year for the Citizen Water Monitoring Network, our volunteer-based water quality monitoring program, which has been on-going for nearly 20 years.

The drought brought new challenges to CWMN this summer, stemming from low water levels and flow. Beginning in July, there were sites in both Milton and Canton that dried up and were unable to be sampled.

We saw a significant increase in bacteria levels during sampling events when it wasn’t raining and a dramatic decrease in dissolved oxygen which is critical for the survival of fish and wildlife.

It was also thanks to our CWMN volunteers that we were alerted to the fish kill caused by chemical laced runoff from a burning building next to Hawes Brook in June—a testament to the importance of the CWMN program.

As always, we owe an immense thank you to our volunteers!  For more information on CWMN, or if you’d like to become a volunteer, please contact NepRWA Field Sampling Coordinator, Meghan Rauber meghan@neponset.org or 781-575-0354 x306.