Pioneer Valley
Planning Commission
Media Release
CONTACT: Patty Gambarini, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (413) 781-6045
Andrea Donlon, Connecticut River Watershed Council (413) 772-2020, ext. 205
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2010
Volunteers Sought for Connecticut River Water Quality Monitoring
The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, in partnership with the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC) and Water Resources Research Center at the University of Massachusetts, are seeking volunteers to participate in a water quality monitoring project on the Connecticut River and its tributaries. Water quality monitoring will be done in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties.
Monitoring will begin in early June and continue weekly through October. A training session to prepare volunteers will be held in May (date, time, and location to be announced).
Nine locations along the mainstem of the Connecticut River will be monitored on a weekly basis. Volunteers will be asked to go to a site early each Thursday morning, collect a sample, and bring it to the project lab in Holyoke. Sites on the river’s mainstem where volunteers are needed include North End Bridge/Bassett Marina Boat Launch, Springfield; Davitt Bridge/Granby Road, Chicopee; and Medina Street Boat Ramp, Chicopee. To volunteer for mainstem sampling, contact PVPC’s Patty Gambarini at (413) 781-6045 or pgambarini@pvpc.org.
In addition to sampling on the Connecticut River’s mainstem, bacteria sampling and possible source tracking will be done at sites in Northampton, Greenfield, Montague, and Gill. Groups of volunteers will mobilize approximately twice a month to collect samples during dry weather on weekday mornings. Project partners are also looking for volunteers to sew mesh bags for optical brightener (OB) testing, a process that will help to narrow down sources of pollution along the tributaries. To volunteer for tributary sampling or for sewing mesh bags for OB testing, contact Andrea Donlon at CRWC at (413) 772-2020 ext. 205 or adonlon@ctriver.org.
Data collected in this project will provide a more complete picture of the river’s health and understanding about sources of contamination. This information will be useful not only for recreational users who have direct contact with the waters, but for local, state, and federal officials in addressing combined sewer overflow discharges and stormwater flows.
