Publication Date:
2020-08-28
Description:
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 2018. 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.
Description:
The Buzzards Bay Baywatchers water quality monitoring program was established in 1992 by the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (NEP), in partnership with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, under US EPA Cooperative Agreement CE001510 with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The monitoring program was exclusively funded by the Buzzards Bay NEP under various EPA Cooperative Agreement grants from 1992 - 1996, then subsequently managed and funded by the Buzzards Bay Coalition primarily through contributions from the organization’s members and private foundations, grants from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and through continued reduced support from the Buzzards Bay NEP through EPA grants. The Coalition's oxygen and nutrient databases were combined into a structured reference database table by Costa in 2014 under a task contained in EPA Cooperative Agreement (CE96144201).
Keywords:
water quality
;
Buzzards Bay
;
nitrogen
;
eutrophication
;
coastal
;
citizen science
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Dataset
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