HarborWatch/RiverWatch is a non-profit, environmental NGO, established in 1992. The principal activity is sampling and analyzing water quality in the lower reaches of the Norwalk, Five Mile and Saugatuck Rivers. They have four full-time, salaried staff, 80-100 volunteers, and student interns funded by Norwalk through the Mayor’s Water Quality Committee. The organization has offices and a laboratory at
Earthplace in Westport where
water samples are analyzed.
They have prepared a
Quality Assurance Plan
for certification purposes
and, as a result, their
analytical work is fully
accepted by DEEP
and EPA.
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Partners in environmental protection
I have had the privilege of working with several members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 72 while developing my dissertation to determine the influence of the Norwalk Islands on the movement of river river and heat in the water column. Measurements are necessary in order to validate and assess the accuracy of the computer model I was going to use.
I started my data collection campaign by tethering small salinity and temperature sensors to the docks of local businesses and organizations like the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium, the Saugatuck Rowing Club, and Rowayton Market. This provided data with a high sampling frequency in fixed locations that would allow comparison of the Five Mile, Norwalk and Saugatuk Rivers’ storm response and tidal characteristics. Obtaining measurements outside the river channels and around the Norwalk Islands remained.
This need was met by the generosity of Flotilla 72, Harbor
Watch and the Norwalk Seaport Association.
The Flotilla and HarborWatch allowed me to
tow a sensor (named DORISST) during their
water-quality patrols from July through September. The missions on which Flotilla 72 operated DORISST provided the greatest spatial resolution of any dataset collected that summer, providing days’ worth of data that went inside and outside the Norwalk Islands. On several missions I was permitted to attend as an observer and make additional measurements of temperature and salinity in the water column.
The data collected during these patrols became a cornerstone in the development of my dissertation’s hypotheses. I will be attending the American Geophysical Union and Aquatic Science and Limnology Organization’s conference in New Orleans. The data that Flotilla 72 helped to collect will be shown in two separate poster presentations – “Engaging Local Organizations in Science-Driven Oceanographic Data Collection: Summer 2015 in Norwalk and Westport, Connecticut” and “Investigating the Influence of Coastal Islands on River Water Distribution and Mixing in Western Long Island Sound”.
Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 72 is mentioned in the official conference program and will provide a great example of what can be accomplished through the help of local organizations.
Jason Farrow, Steve Schmidt and Eric Riznyk
The DORISST sensor
Past director of HarborWatch/RiverWatch Dick Harris displays water-quality data that includes measurements by Flotilla 72.
Steve Schmidt, PhD Candidate
University of Connecticut