The role of water quality monitoring in effective river management

How data drives management decisions on the Farmington

River Management Roundtable
March 12| 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. ET

The Farming River Watershed Association(FWRA)'s Water Quality Monitoring programs collect data on bacteria, temperature, chloride, macroinvertebrates, cyanobacteria and more. FRWA is particularly focused on watershed streams that are not actively monitored by state agencies and/or lack sufficient data. We use monitoring data to document high-quality waters for protection and preservation, measure inputs from tributaries to the Farmington River, monitor changes in water quality and land use, identify impairments, locate potential preservation & restoration opportunities, and reveal trends relative to changing climate and precipitation patterns via long term monitoring. Join us to learn about our monitoring programs, citizen-science opportunities, and how we and state agencies use our data.

Panelists

Laura Hart, FRWA Conservation Director – Laura earned an M.S. degree in Sustainability Science from Lund University, Sweden, and a B.S. in Environmental Science from Cornell University. Laura runs the water quality program, from the headwaters in Massachusetts to the confluence with the CT River in Windsor. Our ambient monitoring informs our efforts to identify, protect and preserve high quality waters, and focuses our work to reduce stormwater and improve water quality in the more degraded waters, thus Laura collaborates with various agencies and community groups on green infrastructure projects such as rain gardens, barrier removal projects, and on our educational program, <https://frwa.org/what-we-do/advocacy/riversmart/> River Smart.

Paige Vichiola, FRWA Watershed Manager – Paige earned a B.S. in biology, with a concentration in environmental science and a minor in chemistry from Central Connecticut State University. Paige works diligently to assess the health of our watershed throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut through water quality monitoring of bacteria, temperature, chloride, macroinvertebrates, and culvert surveys. She manages data, performs data analysis, and writes reports on our findings. Paige will help coordinate programs, cleanups, and help lead events and trips, and evaluate results of projects.

Registration

On the second Tuesday of the month, the River Management Society hosts River Management Roundtables (virtual discussions) with professional river, greenway, and water trails leaders, planners, and managers whose river will benefit from the experiences of peer-to-peer sharing. Our goal is to facilitate an open forum in which you can ask questions, share solutions and build comradery. There's no fee or membership requirement to attend, but registration is required to help us set expectations and improve our outreach.

Watch the recording

About RMS River Management Roundtables

Each month, the River Management Society hosts virtual conversations with professional river, greenway, and water trails leaders, planners, and managers whose community, region, state and federal river will benefit from the experiences of peer-to-peer sharing. Our goal is to facilitate an open forum to support your work managing rivers. We work together to tackle common issues by asking questions, sharing solutions and building comradery.