Coastsweep
Sampling Sites Map

Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring Program

Chatham Water Watchers, in cooperation with the Town of Chatham and the Pleasant Bay Alliance, collect and test water samples in Chatham's estuaries five times per summer at biweekly intervals during July and August and once in early September. Volunteers are trained by Dr. Robert Duncanson, Director of Chatham's Department of Health and Natural Resources, to directly assess water quality by measuring water clarity, salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen content and taking water samples at varying depths. Collected data and water samples are analyzed by the UMass School of Marine Science and Technology in Dartmouth.

The program's history began in 1994 when the Massachusetts State Executive Office of Environmental Affairs endorsed a Stage Harbor Management Plan approved by Chatham's town meeting. Chatham's plan was the first to be adopted by a Massachusetts town and became a model for other towns. Friends of Chatham Waterways (FCW) aided in the development of the Stage Harbor Plan which called for the design of a water quality monitoring program in efforts to better understand and manage wastewater from homes, businesses and storm water runoff. In 1999,FCW worked cooperatively with the town to implement this plan which became the Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring Program.

In 2023, 42 FCW Water Watcher volunteers monitored 19 stations in Chatham's estuaries, completing the 24th consecutive year of the Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring Program. Since it is imperative to monitor water quality over a long period, Chatham Water Watchers will continue their work over the years ahead. Once more wastewater has begun to be treated, there will be a need for continued monitoring to assess progress against algae, low dissolved oxygen and decayed bottom sediment, all of which contribute to the loss of plant life and animal species in our waterways.

 

Allie and Lauren Thonus about to take water samples in Mill Pond.
Marianne Nover and Susan Weinz heading out to test in Stage Harbor.

If interested in Volunteering then see our 2020 Training Video below:

Friends of Chatham Waterways (FCW) Water Watchers have recently completed their 23rd season of collecting water samples and data for Chatham's Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring Program.

From 15 sampling stations in Chatham, 38 volunteers used refractometers to measure water salinity, Secchi disks to measure water depth, Dissolved Oxygen meters to record water temperature and dissolved oxygen levels, and Niskins to collect water samples for nutrient and chlorophyll content.  Their data and water samples will be analyzed by the University of Massachusetts School of Marine Science and Technology in Dartmouth.

The Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring Program continues to provide critical back-ground data on general water quality, conditions and trends in nitrogen loading.  This year's results, along with past data, will help determine the health of the town's estuaries and track changes as Chatham implements its waste water management plan.

FCW would like to thank the following Chatham Water Watchers who set out five times this summer to monitor the town's estuaries and embayments.  Stage Harbor estuaries:  Betsy Mosser, Janet Fields, Douglas Fields, Jay Stahl, Larry Capodilupo, Bill Horrocks, Cameron Koblish, Bill Hayes, Susan Weinz, Jeff Mason, Pippin Griscom, Sandy Giorgetti, Sarah Wilsterman,  Randy Fusaro, Noah Fleischman, and Marianne Nover;  South Coastal embayments:  Frank Messina, Peter Barry, Don Phinney, Sherrie Burson, Dick Hosmer, John Garry, Dave Holden and Roger Donald; Pleasant Bay: Bob Samuelson, Carolyn Parker, Dick Hoyt, Joe Meeks Bob Wilson, Patrick Otton, Charlie Goheen, Michael Reilly, Elizabeth Reilly, Carole Ridley, Scott Ridley, Natalie Coleman Fuller, Dick Ingwall, and Joanne Ingwall.

The Coastal Water Nutrient Monitoring Program is organized and supervised by Dr. Robert Duncanson, Director of Chatham's Department of Natural Resources.

Coastsweep

Every September, Friends of Chatham Waterways (FCW) Coastsweep volunteers collect trash from 15 sites along Chatham's shoreline.  Coastsweep is run locally by FCW and is part of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management's (CZM) annual Massachusetts Coastal Cleanup in conjunction with the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup

 

FCW provides volunteers with debris grabbers and CZM contributes trash bags and gloves for collection.  The Ocean Conservancy supplies data cards for recording site findings.  After beach cleanups, trash and data cards are dropped off at a Chatham location.  Debris is picked up by the town's Transfer Station.  Data cards are forwarded to the CZM and then sent to the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, D.C. for analysis and publication.  The data provided helps in the development of programs to reduce marine debris worldwide.

 

In 2024 the most unusual items collected included a plastic gas can, hotel key cards, a metal sign, wooden oar, a paint roller, a buoy, shotgun shells, golf balls and a bike chain. The most numerous items found were non-biodegradable cigarette butts, food wrappers, beverage cans, plastic beverage bottles and caps, and tiny plastic and foam pieces. The following participated in CoastSweep 2024: Anne Carlson, Melissa Chase, Elizabeth Edge, Lindsey and Jeff Dill, Jean and Dick Hoyt, Leigh and Dave Hovey, Heidi Hilty, Ellen Blasio, Ellen and Peter Mullen, Ron Holmes, Jeanie Gillis, Elizabeth Sheppard, Leslie Massa, Ginny Nickerson, Jazz Mason, Jeff Mason, Laura and Mike Everett, Tom King, Lauren and Chris Thonus, Allie Thonus, Alex Thonus, Dave Potts, and Richard Johnston.

 

Coastsweep volunteers help bring an awareness of the abundance of trash on the town's beaches and of the consequent need for people to be responsible about picking up not only their own trash but also that of others too.

Ocean Conservancy's Clean Swell App

Tracking trash on the beach is important for environmental research, and you can help.  The Ocean Conservancy has created a the CleanSwell app available on both IOS and Android that allows you to report trash you have picked up on your own easily at any time and any place.

Samples of Coastsweep trash.
Susan Collins and Barbara Doyle surveying some of trash collected.
Elaine Blaine at Mitchell River area.
Jazz and Jeff Mason at Oyster Pond

September 6, 2024 presentation: Pleasant Bay: A Focus on Environmental Stewardship Dr. Robert Duncanson