Jamie Samons – Page 19

APPLICATIONS FOR EARTH DAY CLEAN UP GRANTS ARE DUE FEBRUARY 15!

NBC has announced the 2023 round of grants for Earth Day Community Clean-Ups.

In 2003, NBC Chairman Vincent Mesolella established the Chairman’s River Restoration Initiative for the Woonasquatucket River. In 2013, the Chairman’s River Restoration Initiative expanded to include support to other community organizations who would like to pursue their own Earth Day River and Lake Cleanups, restoration or beautification projects. Annually, the NBC offers grants ranging from $250 up to $1000 to community groups in the NBC service area. From 2013-2022, grantees galvanized over 10,000 volunteers to make a difference for clean water in their communities.

The goal of the NBC 2023 Earth Day River Cleanup Grant Program is to continue on the previous years’ successes and emphasize the importance of Earth Day 2023, the value of the environment, and provide assistance to organizations improving the quality of life in their communities. We encourage all applicants to abide by current guidelines regarding PPE and social distancing. The grant application is available here. The deadline is February 15, 2023.

December 25-31, 2022

Nutrient samples were collected from seven local river stations and one bay station on December 28th; additional bay sampling was cancelled due to freezing temperatures. The lone bay station (Phillipsdale Landing) was sampled at the surface and bottom. Leading up to sampling, there were 1.17 inches total precipitation recorded at T.F. Green on the 23rd and no precipitation on the 24th – 27th.

Among the river stations sampled, the highest total nitrogen (TN), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations were observed at Pawtuxet River @ Broad St. (TN = 1,580 ppb, TDN = 1,710 ppb, DIN = 1,350 ppb). The lowest TN was observed at Woonasquatucket River @ Valley St. (TN = 651 ppb); the lowest TDN and DIN were observed Woonasquatucket River @ Manton Ave. Bridge (TDN = 680 ppb, DIN = 463 ppb).

At the one bay station sampled, Phillipsdale Landing, surface TN was 1,130 ppb, surface TDN was 1,160 ppb, and surface DIN was 899 ppb.

Data from additional sampling dates (typically every two weeks) are pending analysis and writeup.

November 27-December 3, 2022

On Wednesday, November 30th, the crew of the R/V Monitor was out on the upper Bay collecting nutrients samples, taking Secchi Disk water clarity measurements, conducting water column profiles using a profiling sonde, and conducting real-time surface mapping of water quality parameters, including dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, water temperature, salinity, and pH, all in an effort to document water quality improvements associated with NBC construction projects. Jeffrey captained the boat while monitoring professionals Fern, Gerard and Steve collected the samples and data. It was a sunny and brisk day with no wind and calm waters. The featured photo from our archives shows ProvPort from the east.

September 25 – October 1, 2022

The boat crew conducted benthic video surveys along the Bullock Reach, Edgewood, and Sabin transects on September 29, 2022. Scale lasers were used in the footage at Bullock Reach and Sabin, separated by 29 cm. Visibility through the water column was inconsistent at all transects, ranging from poor to fair; fine observations were difficult in some areas. The bottom of all sites was characterized by sands and muds. All sites hosted dense patches of shell hash and rubble, occasional boulders and cobbles were also spotted at Edgewood. Algal coverage was diverse this week. Sabin featured large mats of branching red algae (dominant), Ulva, and red sheet-like algae. Bullock Reach also exhibited some dense areas of branching red algae, in addition to smaller patches of Ulva and red sheet-like algae. Edgewood had little algae coverage. All sites hosted dense diatom felt. General biotic activity was high at all sites as noted by extensive tracks and trails. Rare benthic video sights included many small schools of juvenile black sea bass (all sites), mantis shrimp Squilla (Sabin), horseshoe crabs (Sabin and Edgewood), flat fish (Bullock Reach), and a sea robin (Sabin). Infaunal activity was moderate; many large burrows (likely from Squilla) and small burrows (all sites), as well as some small tube-building fauna (Sabin and Bullock Reach). Common observations were spider crabs (Bullock Reach), boring sponges (all sites), hermit crabs (Edgewood and Bullock Reach), slipper snail Crepidula (all sites), Nassariid mudsnails (Bullock Reach), spaghetti worms (Edgewood and Sabin), blue crabs (Edgewood and Sabin, photo below), as well as large colonies of mermaid’s glove sponges and red bearded sponges (Sabin). Amphipod tube mats were not observed.