Water Quality Goals and Objectives
Among the goals and objectives of the Niantic River Watershed Protection Plan is to improve water quality and biological monitoring within the Niantic River and its tributaries. This included the establishment of a comprehensive long-term water quality monitoring program for the Niantic River Watershed.
The Monitoring Subcommittee made a commitment to compiling current and historical water quality data and biological surveys pertaining to the Niantic River. Evaluation of available data may reveal long-term water quality changes and trends in the Niantic River. Data collected can be accessed here.
In April 2012, the Monitoring Subcommittee began a water quality (WQ) monitoring program in Latimer Brook and Cranberry Meadow Brook in Montville and East Lyme. Once a month, an NRWC member, often assisted by volunteers, collected WQ data. These included water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, and nitrogen concentration (as nitrate-nitrogen). In 2014, the WQ monitoring program was expanded to include sampling sites on Oil Mill Brook and Stony Brook in Waterford. After evaluating the WQ data, the Monitoring Subcommittee decided to end watershed-wide sampling and begin event-based sampling in the summer of 2017. This sampling documented how rain events affected WQ parameters in Latimer Brook. Sampling took place quarterly at the Latimer Brook dam in Flanders and continued through the spring of 2022.
Our WQ data provide essential information on baseline water quality conditions in the streams. It allowed us to identify and evaluate spatial, seasonal, and annual variations in water chemistry parameters, how they vary under precipitation events, and estimate the flux of nitrogen into the Niantic River. The NRWC and watershed municipalities use these data to identify areas where water quality is less than optimal and water quality improvements can be made. A report on this 10-year WQ monitoring was completed in August 2023.
Water quality monitoring volunteers collect a water sample for analysis
Riffle Bioassessment by Volunteers (RBV)
RBV is a community-based aquatic macroinvertebrate assessment developed by CT DEEP to assess aquatic habitat. This assessment uses the presence or absence of pollutant-sensitive riffle-dwelling aquatic invertebrates to estimate the relative health of a stream. Riffles are areas within a stream where the streambed rises to intercept the water surface, creating highly oxygenated environments where many aquatic insects can be found. In particular, the presence of pollution-sensitive insects, which includes stoneflies, mayflies and caddisflies, generally indicates that stream water quality is very good. RBV volunteers are required to complete a training program created and overseen by CT DEEP.
Riffles in Latimer Brook, East Lyme
RBV sampling is conducted during fall and takes place in riffle areas of streams having stony substrates. NRWC volunteers have sampled several sites in the Niantic River tributaries in conjunction with our partners, including the East Lyme Commission for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Town of Waterford staff, and citizen volunteers. Although macroinvertebrate types are identified in the field, voucher collections are sent to CT DEEP for confirmation and compilation of macroinvertebrates, with species placed into classes termed “Most Wanted”, “Moderately Wanted”, “Least Wanted”, and “Others”. The numbers collected in each class can inform us about water quality. We have sampled several sites in Latimer Brook and Cranberry Meadow Brook over successive years to create baseline information and observe any changes in the presence of macroinvertebrates that might indicate changes in water quality.
For more information regarding RBV monitoring and to see the results of state-wide surveys, visit the CT DEEP River Bio-assessment by Volunteers (RBV) web page.
RBV sample from Stony Brook in Waterford
Relevant Water Quality Monitoring by Other Organizations or Agencies in the Watershed
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
In 2011, the USGS completed a 3-year water quality monitoring project on several tributaries to the Niantic River, including Latimer Brook and Oil Mill Brook. The results of the study can be found in the project report, Nutrient Concentrations and Loads and Escherichia coli Densities in Tributaries of the Niantic River Estuary, Southeastern Connecticut, 2005 and 2008-2011.
USGS also conducted a study from 2005 to 2011 on the effects of the sewering of Pine Grove in Niantic on nitrogen load reductions to the Niantic River.
The final report on this study is titled, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5011, Evaluation of the Effects of Sewering on Nitrogen Loads to the Niantic River, Southeastern Connecticut, 2005–11.
Millstone Environmental Laboratory
Since 1976, the Millstone Environmental Laboratory (MEL) has monitored water quality and biological data from the Niantic River and Niantic Bay throughout the year. Collected data includes water quality parameters, including water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, dissolved organic and inorganic nitrogen, and macroalgae and eelgrass abundance. Abundance of various life stages of fishes and lobster are also monitored. MEL hosts the Nitrogen Work group meetings, of which the NRWC is a participant. MEL personnel have assisted NRWC efforts by loaning us equipment and calibrating our water quality instrument. Millstone Power Station’s parent company, Dominion Energy, has been extremely generous in supporting the NRWC by approving our requests for monetary grants since 2015.
University of Connecticut
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have conducted rigorous investigations in the Niantic River and Bay. Chief among these are several embayment studies conducted by Dr. Jamie Vaudrey, an Assistant Research Professor with the Department of Marine Sciences and the present NRWC Coordinator. Dr. Vaudrey’s research can be viewed at http://vaudrey.lab.uconn.edu/.
CFE/Save the Sound Unified Water Study
Since 2017, Save the River-Save the Hills has been participating in the Unified Water Study and collects water quality data from the Niantic River. The goal of this study is to assist groups conducting water quality monitoring throughout Long Island Sound by having consistent sampling protocols, making collected data comparable. Local monitoring groups receive support from Save the Sound, the study’s Science Advisors, and its funders. They are provided with monitoring equipment, training, Standard Operating Procedures, a custom study design for their monitoring locations, a template Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), and other resources needed to successfully collect high quality monitoring data.
Click here to visit the Unified Water Study website and see data collected by Save the River-Save the Hills from the Niantic River and elsewhere around Long Island Sound.
Engagement with Our Communities
On occasion, the NRWC and its members have provided expertise to member towns and other organizations regarding environmental matters. These include letters providing review and comments on projects or presenting testimony at public hearings. Such efforts have included:
- a letter commenting on the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration’s Northeast Corridor Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement
- participating in the Stone Ranch (CT National Guard, East Lyme) Joint Land Use Study workshop
- a letter to the East Lyme Zoning Commission concerning a large housing development proposed within the Oswegatchie Hills
- a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supporting the clean water value of a commercial shellfishing operation
- several letters of support for the New England Forestry Foundation’s applications to acquire land for open space
- a letter of support to the CT National Estuarine Reserve supporting a study to reduce nonpoint source nitrogen loads from residential septic systems
- testimony at CT Siting Council public hearings related to solar energy projects in East Lyme and Waterford
- testimony before various town commissions in East Lyme and Salem related to matters concerning housing or commercial developments proposed within the watershed.