Issue #10           

Summer 2005           

 

The Basin Bulletin   
Newsletter for Stakeholders of the Raritan Basin Watershed    

 

Spruce Run and Rocky Run Fecal Coliform Study

In early 2004, the New Jersey Water Supply Authority received funding from the NJDEP to prepare a stream characterization study for the implementation of the fecal coliform TMDL for the Spruce Run and Rocky Run subwatersheds.  As part of this project, the NJWSA contracted with the Hunterdon County Board of Health to perform fecal coliform sampling at 14 locations in the subwatershed(s) in the summer of 2004, under the procedures they use to collect data for the NJDEP.  The Quality Assurance and Project Plan outlining these procedures was submitted to NJDEP and approved.  

Sampling was conducted on two dry days, two wet days and one day with intermediate flows.  The four sampling stations on Rocky Run indicate that this stream is not impaired for fecal coliform, since neither expression of the water quality criteria (no sample> 400 col/ 100 ml AND the geometric mean < 200 col/100 ml) were exceeded.  For the sampling stations on Spruce Run, all but one location had at least one sample exceedence of the water quality criteria.  No correlation seemed to exist between fecal coliform concentrations and wet or dry weather stream conditions.

Since the sampling results do not indicate a fecal coliform problem on Rocky Run, the NJWSA will no longer sample this portion of the watershed. For the Spruce Run watershed, staff will consult land use data, updated for the Spruce Run Initiative, and determine how best to redistribute the sampling locations in the subwatershed for the isolation of fecal coliform sources.  We will consult with NJDEP Bureau of Water Monitoring to coordinate with their TMDL sampling sites. 

 

  

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