Phillipsdale Landing
Overall, water quality at Phillipsdale Landing was fair to good this week. Weather conditions were dry this week, with only a very light rain of 0.02 inches recorded at T.F. Green. Blackstone River flow started the week off with a high flow rate due to the May 20th storm, but then decreased over the course of the week. Surface salinity remained well below bottom salinity. Surface salinity this week averaged 13.2 ppt and ranged from 6.5 ppt to 24.5 ppt. At the bottom, salinity averaged 22.5 ppt and ranged from 9.6 ppt to 28.6 ppt. Salinity at the surface averaged 5.2 ppt and ranged from 1.9 ppt to 8.9 ppt. At the bottom, salinity averaged 15.8 ppt and ranged from 3.2 ppt to 27.8 ppt. Temperatures this week averaged 18.3°C at the surface and 16.3 °C at the bottom. Surface temperatures ranged from 15.3°C to 22.0°C, while bottom temperatures ranged from 14.0°C to 19.5°C.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) at Phillipsdale Landing remained above the hypoxia threshold of 2.9 mg/L at the surface. DO dropped below the hypoxia threshold at the bottom only briefly on the morning of May 26th. Surface DO remained similar to the previous week, averaging 8.3 mg/L and ranging 6.9-10.0 mg/L. Bottom water DO concentration averaged 5.6 mg/L and ranged from 2.0 mg/L to 8.6 mg/L. Chlorophyll concentrations decreased from the previous week, averaging 2.8 ug/L at the surface and 13.1 ug/L at the bottom. Maximum surface chlorophyll readings reached 34.5 ug/L, recorded in the morning of March 23rd. Please note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flows greatly influence water column salinity, temperature, and DO at this location. Also, please note that isolated portions of chlorophyll data from the surface sonde on May 23rd and from the bottom sonde on May 27th were excluded from the summary this week due to suspected interference.
Bullock Reach
Bullock Reach sondes will be deployed later this spring for the 2023 monitoring season.