BMP’s in Sprague – A description of the tools and processes used to protect and preserve

This article will be addressing the current processes occurring in my local watershed in Sprague, CT that are used to protect and restore the watershed and discuss these best management processes (BMPs). The local watershed is called Little River, there are several streams and rivers in this watershed, and throughout the watershed, there are about 42.8 square miles of land that drains into these streams as shown in Figure 1. and Figure 2. (Streamstats, n.d), we also see in this figure that 6.22 percent of the land is developed around Little River.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Around my local area, there has been little strategic building in order to better protect the watershed in recent years. In the area, we have several business plazas in the neighborhood, as well as a park so there is a lot of developed land. However, with the park, there are a lot of trees that are conserved in order to keep the beauty or aesthetic of the park. There’s also foliage near the roads that although they get trimmed back commonly, they aren’t removed from the area. This is unfortunately the most that the community has really been doing in terms of building strategically. With most of the roads paved, and many homeowners switching to paved rather than dirt or gravel driveways we are switching to more of the impervious covers. Although the only good side to this is that there hasn’t been much more development in the general area than that, businesses have come and gone but in the same building; There hasn’t been any more land cleared for newer buildings or extremely large and unnecessary parking lots.

If I had to suggest any ideas in order to strategically build better, I would certainly suggest that we incorporate more land preservation than we are already currently doing, and also express the importance of it to neighboring towns that might be doing more development than us. We could also choose to minimize our lots that aren’t being used as much, in order to give the opportunity for nature restoration – if the lots aren’t being used very often there is no real point in continuing the impervious cover that they provide. Finally, we could also encourage and incorporate more open space designs in neighborhoods and stop constructing culdesacs as often. By building more open concept communities we could minimalize our impact on watersheds and the overall environment, which will prove to be beneficial to us at the end of the day (Better Site Design, 2019).

Another management practice you can see quite commonly in my local area to assist the protection of my watershed is the usage of non-stormwater discharges. Sewer grates can be seen all over where I live, and these can help since during a storm when you see all the water gliding down into these grates, they are collecting all the water into a pipe under these grates, that water is then transported to a municipal treatment plant. The goal of this plant is to remove the pollutants from the water in turn making it more sanitary (Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas). This can be a win or lose situation though since there are many cases when there have been significant waste reduction rates, however, it usually comes with the threat of more development of land as well as the risk of something going wrong, such as overflows.

Another form of non-stormwater discharges present in my area is the usage of septic systems, which I am sure many of us are familiar with but these basically take the waste from toilets, bathtubs, etc. and treat as well as discharge the water from them (Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas). These systems are in the ground, however, and a problem that can occur occasionally is, unfortunately, should the septic system fail, it can pollute the water nearby in lakes, rivers, or just the groundwater in general. 

These BMPs are very important to keeping the integrity of the watershed intact because although Little River is relatively clean compared to many other watersheds, it still is polluted and needs to be improved. Our watersheds are very crucial to our environment, but luckily with courses like these, we are becoming more informed on how to proceed in the future and conduct better research on them.

Reference:

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas. EPA. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://cfpub.epa.gov/watertrain/moduleFrame.cfm?parent_object_id=1341

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). National Menu of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Stormwater-Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination. EPA. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/npdes/national-menu-best-management-practices-bmps-stormwater-illicit-discharge-detection-and

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. (2019, September 27). Better Site Design Better Site Design. Better site design – Minnesota Stormwater Manual. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://stormwater.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/Better_site_design

StreamStats: Streamflow Statistics and Spatial Analysis Tools for water-resources applications active. StreamStats: Streamflow Statistics and Spatial Analysis Tools for Water-Resources Applications | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/streamstats-streamflow-statistics-and-spatial-analysis-tools 

What’s Got the Local Watershed Changing? Sprague, CT

1. Pollution

Figure 1a.

Figure 1b.

All my life I have seen different forms of pollution happen with Versailles Pond, people throw trash on the side of the road as they drive by which rolls down the hill, especially once it rains and the steep slope just turns into an absolute mudslide. This trash either lingers on the banks of the watershed or will eventually make it into the watershed itself. 

This is a huge problem however because as shown in figure 1b.; Many of these pollutants are not biodegradable and will just sit and rust, eventually leaking harmful chemicals into the soil or water nearby. Not to mention the fact that this metal debris can end up being hazardous to both animal and human lives if anyone was to fall and cut themselves or anything of the sort. 

Plastic debris however is different but just as dangerous, the plastic litter can linger for up to six hundred years or more! This can cause local wildlife to possibly ingest these large items such as lighters, straws, plastic bags, etc. Not only that but they could degrade into microplastics which can be ingested by virtually anything, whether it be fish or plankton (Wreg, How does littering affect the environment? 2019). These microplastics are particularly dangerous because they can affect both wildlife and humans, the lifespan of fish and animals is shortened through direct ingestion however, with us consuming the fish we end up being exposed to toxic chemicals or materials such as adhesives, lubricants, harmful dyes or possible metals.

2. Sediment deposition and river flow

Figure 2a.

Figure 2b.

As you can see in Figures 2a. and 2b. Versailles Pond has a dam attached to it, this dam was built in approximately 1865 (Weston Solutions, Inc. , REMOVAL PROGRAM PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT/ SITE INVESTIGATION FORMS 2016). Dams can be a good asset for domestic and industrial uses, however, they can actually change the conditions of a watershed for the worse as well. This is due to two reasons, river flow modification, and sediment deposition.

The change in river flow is due to the fact that rivers naturally have a change in flow which can indicate seasonal change. Many species including fish rely on these changes for actions such as reproduction or migration. However, with these dams, their migration time for example can increase due to the disruption (American River Writers, How dams damage rivers 2018). The change can also affect the temperature, since the stagnant water will heat up and it can also affect the natural gasses in a river, causing there to be too much nitrogen for fish to handle and too little oxygen. 

Another problem that affects the watershed due to the construction of dams is the sediment deposition that follows. When a river is free-flowing, sediment is able to follow down the river and be better distributed along the shore and floor of the river, however, once a dam is built it causes sediment build up. This build-up can have heavy consequences on aquatic life such as burying eggs underneath the sediment, getting clogged in the gills of fish, and the fact that any harmful chemicals that could be polluting the waters will continue to build up instead of dispersing ( O’Keefe et al., Agents of Watershed Change 2022).

3. High levels of mercury and PCBs

Although it isn’t a change you can really see with your eyes, the aquatic life in Versailles Pond has tested positive for large amounts of mercury and PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) levels (McCarthy & Gardner, Versailles Pond Feasibility Study Data Gaps Investigation Work Plan 2019). This caused the Department of Health to step in and decide that these fish are inedible, and especially high risk for those who are pregnant or nursing, however, no one should even attempt to eat them but instead opt for catch and release type fishing.

PCBs are chemicals that are man-made, nowadays they are banned from being used in the United States, however, products that contain PCB still linger and cause the risk of exposing hazardous chemicals to the environment. Although there isn’t much information on Versailles Pond, including history as to how the PCB and mercury levels became so high – since Sprague was originally a mill town you could most likely theorize it became this way after a leakage with one of the mills in Sprague since PCBs are usually associated industrial or commercial applications. The mills have since been closed and torn down but their effect on our environment and watershed still remain.

In all the time I have lived in my town there have been several motions by the town hall to clean up Versailles Pond, but there still hasn’t been any real actions taken to do so, unfortunately, the watershed is just forgotten or put to the side a lot of the time. Hopefully, in due time the conditions can be improved.

Reference List:

McCarthy, R., & Gardner, M. (2019, February). Versailles Pond Feasibility Study Data Gaps Investigation Work Plan. Chelmsford, MA; AECOM.

O’Keefe, T. C., Helfield, J. M., & Naiman, R. J. (2022, March 23). Agents of Watershed Change. EPA. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://cfpub.epa.gov/watertrain/moduleFrame.cfm?parent_object_id=681

American Rivers Writers. (2018, July 26). How dams damage rivers. American Rivers. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/restoring-damaged-rivers/how-dams-damage-rivers/

Environmental Protection Agency. (2022, March 3). Learn about Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). EPA. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/pcbs/learn-about-polychlorinated-biphenyls-pcbs

Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team IV. (2016, September). REMOVAL PROGRAM PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT/ SITE INVESTIGATION FORMS. North Billerica, MA; Weston Solutions, Inc. .

Wreg, R. (2019, September 1). How does littering affect the environment? . Innovate Eco. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://innovate-eco.com/how-does-littering-affect-the-environment-and-a-few-solutions/

Watershed in Sprague

Introduction:

Hello there! My name is Tatyana Ortiz and I have lived in the Town of Sprague my entire life. An old mill town containing three villages inside despite being a rather small and relatively unnoticed town. What this article will be addressing is the examination of my local watershed in the town of sprague using three different USGS applications. 

Now what is a watershed? In simple terms a watershed is an area that allows water to drain off into a body of water, whether it is a lake, river, and so on. There are watersheds all around us that we drive by day in and day out without actually understanding what they do — and how crucial they are. Not only are they important for our ecosystems but also to our economy and our well beings (Benefits of Healthy Watersheds). That’s where applications such as Science in Your Watershed, How’s my Waterway, and StreamStats come in handy. With these apps you can learn more about the watershed in your area too and use it as a tool to protect said watersheds. 

Science in Your Watershed: 

(Figure 1) Zoomed in picture of a map taken from Science in Your Watershed displaying my local HUC: 01100003 which encompasses the Town of Sprague.

The first website used to research the watershed is called Science in Your Waterway, this app basically allows you to choose your state and zoom in enough to find your Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC). This is a code that would be a series of numbers or in some occasions letters which can be used to find different watersheds in the general region.

While the New London county has the HUC of 01100003 as the main focal point, you can actually scroll over the blue lines in the map which are local streams. It’ll then tell you the name of these streams such as Latimer BK, the stream on the far left side resembling a U shape. However, it might also show a notification to “see additional info” — a link at the bottom of the graph. 

This website is relatively user friendly, one might get confused by the fact that some streams have names but others are blank, although it gives you many resources to further your research about your particular watershed. 

For example I visited an article through this website called “Water Resources Inventory of CT Part 2: Shetucket River Basin”. This article provided me with a larger influx of information on my watershed that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. 

How’s My Waterway:

(Figure 2) Image from How’s My Waterway displaying all the different water bodies that distribute water to the Little River watershed. 

How’s My Waterway certainly was my favorite application to use, since you get a lot of great information such as issues with your watershed and the different types of issues you could have in all the nearby water bodies that are connected to your watershed. This watershed is called Little River, HUC: 011000020302; You’ll notice that there are three different colors for these water bodies: red, purple, and green. Green means this waterbody is in good condition at the present time. Cedar Swamp Brook for example stemming from the top left, has good aquatic life causing the overall condition to be good since the other two factors, fish/shellfish consumption and recreation are unknown. However, as you can imagine the red water bodies are considered impaired. When you scroll over them you can see in detail what makes them this way, such as certain chemicals in the water like PCBs. The purple water bodies just mean that the conditions are unknown at this given time because either it hasn’t been assessed or there isn’t sufficient enough info to give a proper conclusion.

Overall there are eleven water bodies that contribute to this watershed, six with good conditions, three with impared and two with unknown conditions. Which brings the question, what is this watershed’s health score? Well, this watershed actually has a health score on the higher side with a 0.83 on the scale of 0 (less healthy) to 1 (more healthy)

Citations:

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Benefits of Healthy Watersheds. EPA. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/hwp/benefits-healthy-watersheds 

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). How’s My Waterway? EPA. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://mywaterway.epa.gov/community/Versailles%20ct/protect 

Ierardi, M. C. (n.d.). Science in your watershed. Science in Your Watershed – HUC 01080205. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://water.usgs.gov/wsc/cat/01080205.html 

StreamStats: Streamflow Statistics and Spatial Analysis Tools for water-resources applications active. StreamStats: Streamflow Statistics and Spatial Analysis Tools for Water-Resources Applications | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/streamstats-streamflow-statistics-and-spatial-analysis-tools