Buzzards Bay Water Quality Data from the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers Program 1992-2020

Abstract

The Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers Monitoring Program collected summertime water quality information at more than 150 stations around Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts from 1992 to 2020. Baywatchers monitoring data document 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. The Readme, STN_EQUIV, Stations and Methods, S_D for WFH, and Acknowledge tabs were updated and corrections were made for Time and POC on 2018 Upper Bay samples and deleted CH1 from sonde method column where no CHL data existed, moved words like "sample lost" from Chl and Pheo data columns to comments column.