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DRBC Staff Perform Winter Water Quality Monitoring

Even though it's winter and most would prefer to be in the heated indoors, DRBC staff brave the elements to perform water quality testing in the Delaware River and its tributaries. 

 

HOBO® Monitors Maintenance - January 8, 2013

DRBC has deployed HOBO® monitors in six locations in the upper Delaware watershed to collect baseline water quality data that will provide a better understanding of pre-drilling conductivity and temperature ranges over a variety of flows and conditions. These monitors require periodic upkeep, and DRBC staff were in the field this month performing maintenance checks on the monitors located in the Delaware River at Callicoon and in the Oquaga and Shehawken creeks.

DRBC staff performing maintenance on the HOBO® monitor at our Delaware River @Callicoon site, which is located near the USGS gage location. Photo by DRBC.DRBC staff reattaching the HOBO® monitor to the apparatus prior to replacing it in the Oquaga Creek. Photo by DRBC.DRBC staff using an Aqua Scope to help locate the HOBO® monitor in the Shehawken Creek. Lots of snow and ice make it more difficult to search. Photo by DRBC.
Lower Delaware River Metals Sampling - January 15, 2013

This month, sampling commenced for metals and supplemental physical-chemical data at 13 sites including the Delaware River at Easton, Pa. and at Riegelsville, N.J. The resultant data from this monitoring effort will inform a sound technical approach for developing protective and applicable water quality criteria for metals in these non-tidal freshwaters. The sites were sampled using clean hands techniques, which result in very low contamination of the sample by other metal sources.

DRBC staff sampling for metals using clean hands techniques. This monitoring location is the Delaware River at Easton, Pa. Photo by DRBC. DRBC staff sampling for metals using clean hands techniques. This monitoring location is the Delaware River at Riegelsville, N.J. Photo by DRBC.
Neversink River Watershed Water Quality Monitoring - January 22, 2013

Funded by the Pinchot Institute's U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities Healthy Forests and Waters Program, this monitoring effort, which began in the spring of 2012, focuses on assessing the relationship between land use types, development, and pollution loadings throughout the entire Neversink River Watershed, a N.Y. tributary to the upper Delaware River. Eight times a year, 20 water quality parameters are being evaluated at nine locations for three land use types: core forest, fragmented forest, and urban. The data will help evaluate the differences in pollutant loadings from specific land use types and development intensities.

January's sampling date happened to fall on one of the coldest days of the year. Staff bore the brunt of single-digit temperatures and negative wind chills to gather these samples!

DRBC staff obtain a water sample from a tributary to the Basher Kill in the Neversink River Watershed. Photo by DRBC.DRBC staff prepare a water sample for the laboratory. Photo by DRBC.DRBC staff obtain a water sample from a location on the Neversink River upstream of the Neversink Reservoir. Photo by DRBC.DRBC staff prepare a water sample for the laboratory. Photo by DRBC.