A 1997 MBTF document entitled “Project Proposal s.319
Nonpoint Source Pollution Competitive Grant Program” submitted by then NRC
Administrator Dan Monahan on behalf of the MBTF describes several activities in
which the MBTF is still involved today including:
1. Public education,
2. Installation of a stormwater treatment system
(Vortechnics),
3. Reliable water quality testing including acquisition of
testing instruments and conduct of baseline surveys,
4. Periodic inventories and surveys of wildlife, and plants
as well as macro invertebrates (animals without
a backbone) that live on the bottom of streams during all or part of their life
cycle), Fish, birds, turtles, salamanders, newts, and frogs all feed on
macro invertebrates at different stages
of their life. In fact 80% of the diet of riparian birds consists of adults
insects that spend most of their life in the water as macro-invertebrates and
are a critical food source for trout.
5. Consideration of restocking of the Mill Brook with
trout.
The report includes results of a baseline survey of MB
Water quality. Allan Schmidt entered
the reported data into a spreadsheet shown below for seven sites for each month
from April through November 1996. (n.b. Temperatures have been converted from C
to F and row and column averages have been computed). The location of each of the seven data recording stations is not
specified in the report but NRC files include a map indicating that the MB
water sampling sites to be #1: Mill Brook Way, #2 : Chamberlain Park, #3 Heywood
Street, #4 Cambridge Turnpike, #5 Hawthorne Lane, #6 Crosby’s Pond, and #7
Fairyland Pond.
Additional sources of MB 1996 water quality have been
reported by SUASCO and the Mass Div. Of Fish and Wildlife (MDFW):
http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/resources/82wqar1.pdf
In July 1954 the MDFW sampled 3% of the MB stream area and
estimated there were 258 individual fish representing 10 species. In 1979 the MDFW found 16 individuals representing
6 species.
Dan Monahan’s 1996 Proposal includes data concerning
Concord’s practice of trout stocking on a yearly basis from 1956-1990 when that
program was discontinued because “the introduced fish were not surviving prior
to that time”. “The area of greatest concern is downstream of Heywood
Street…”(p.13-14) Over 10,000 fish had been introduced in all. In 1994 Dan
Monahan found no signs of fish life within 100 feet of the Heywood Street
Bridge.
MDFW conducted fish population
sampling at one station in Mill Brook downstream of Heywood Road in Concord on
12 July 2001 using backpack-electroshocking equipment (Richards 2003a). Six redfin pickerel, one white sucker, and
one American eel were collected. The white sucker is considered a fluvial
dependent species that is tolerant of pollution. The redfin pickerel and the
American eel are both considered macrohabitat generalists.
MDFW also sampled an unnamed
tributary to Mill Brook, upstream from Lexington Road, Concord, on 13 July
2001. Fifteen yellow perch, three redfin pickerel, and one largemouth bass were
collected.
MDWM conducted RBP II surveys in Mill Brook in 1996 at two
stations- SAC01A, upstream from the Concord Police station behind the Concord
Ice Company, and SAC01B, upstream from Lowell Road, adjacent to the Star Market
parking lot (Appendix H).
“During the next round of sampling (expected in 2006) DWM should
conduct water quality sampling in Mill Brook to assess the Aquatic Life Use.
The plan should also determine if water withdrawals are impacting habitat in
the brook. Benthic macroinvertebrate sampling should be considered for this
segment, but this could prove difficult since the 1996 Technical Memorandum
indicated few sites suitable for sampling (Appendix H). At the very least, a habitat quality survey
should be conducted to determine if habitat quality has improved or
deteriorated. Additionally, bacteria samples from Mill Brook should also be
collected to assess the recreational uses.”
Mill
Brook Water Temp F 1996 `
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr Location
1 43.3 51.6 65.5 64.9 64.4 56.1 53.1 38.7 54.7 Mill
Brook Way
2 43.0 51.1 64.9 63.9 64.0 56.1 52.5 38.5 54.3 Chamberlain
Park
3 42.6 50.5 65.7 63.3 63.1 56.1 52.0 37.9 53.9 Heywood
Street
4 41.9 52.2 68.2 65.7 65.7 56.1 52.0 37.8 54.9 Cambridge
Tpke
5 43.3 51.8 68.2 64.9 65.8 56.1 52.3 36.5 54.9 Hawthorne
Lane
6 44.8 58.8 74.7 71.4 70.7 56.1 52.5 38.8 58.5 Crosby’s
Pond
7 46.2 56.7 76.6 73.8 70.3 56.5 53.6 40.3 59.2 Fairyland
Pond
Avg/Site 43.6 53.2 69.1 66.8 66.3 56.2 52.6 38.4 55.8
Mill
Brook Air Temp C 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 4.9 10.1 21.1 19.4 18.5 13.6 9.4 3 12.5
2 5.9 12 21.8 21.3 18.4 13 9.4 2.8 13.1
3 5.7 11.4 21.8 18.9 19 13.4 9.4 1 12.6
4 6.9 10.5 21.2 23.2 19.1 14.4 8.3 0.5 13.0
5 7.1 13 22.6 20.3 19.8 14.1 7.2 0 13.0
6 7.9 13.9 21.6 21.7 19.5 14.4 9.4 0.5 13.6
7 8.4 13.1 21.6 21.8 19.3 13.6 10.5 1 13.7
Avg/Site 6.7 12.0 21.7 20.9 19.1 13.8 9.1 1.3 13.1
Mill
Brook Air Temp F 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 40.8 50.2 70.0 66.9 65.3 56.5 48.9 37.4 54.5
2 42.6 53.6 71.2 70.3 65.1 55.4 48.9 37.0 55.5
3 42.3 52.5 71.2 66.0 66.2 56.1 48.9 33.8 54.6
4 44.4 50.9 70.2 73.8 66.4 57.9 46.9 32.9 55.4
5 44.8 55.4 72.7 68.5 67.6 57.4 45.0 32.0 55.4
6 46.2 57.0 70.9 71.1 67.1 57.9 48.9 32.9 56.5
7 47.1 55.6 70.9 71.2 66.7 56.5 50.9 33.8 56.6
Avg/Site 44.0 53.6 71.0 69.7 66.4 56.8 48.4 34.3 55.5
Mill
Brook Water Height Inches 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 9.0 35.0 38.0 39.0 41.0 16.0 38.0 35.0 31.4
2 30.5 37.5 42.0 39.0 41.0 30.0 40.0 47.0 38.4
3 63.0 75.5 78.0 76.5 79.0 58.0 76.0 73.0 72.4
4 18.5 30.8 35.0 30.5 36.0 9.0 27.0 25.0 26.5
5 38.0 45.0 54.0 51.5 54.0 35.0 51.0 47.0 46.9
6 14.0 14.0 15.0 15.0 16.0 13.0 15.0 16.0 14.8
7 6.0 3.5 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 6.0 3.6
Avg/Site 25.6 34.5 37.7 36.2 38.6 23.4 35.7 35.6 33.4
Mill
Brook Disolved Oxygen Mg/L 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 8.5 9.1 6.6 6.6 7 6.5 7.4 9.3 7.6
2 7.8 8.6 6.1 6.3 6.3 5 6.4 9 6.9
3 7.3 8.3 5.7 5.8 6.3 4.4 5.6 8.1 6.4
4 7 5.5 4 4.4 4.5 3.3 3.6 6.2 4.8
5 7.8 8.1 5.3 5.5 5.8 5 4.3 7.1 6.1
6 10.7 9 4.2 2.7 2.1 6.9 3.5 6.1 5.7
7 11 10 5.9 5.5 4.2 6.5 8.2 6.4 7.2
Avg/Site 8.6 8.4 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.4 5.6 7.5 6.4
Mill
Brook Conductivity nS/cm 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 291 415 467 387 492 187 400 430 383.6
2 290 410 440 370 448 179 407 432 372.0
3 282 388 420 355 415 181 400 411 356.5
4 280 432 529 389 526 180 440 436 401.5
5 350 435 521 418 574 210 480 476 433.0
6 255 218 282 140 301 145 240 273 231.8
7 346 384 404 301 411 310 420 448 378.0
Avg/Site 299.1 383.1 437.6 337.1 452.4 198.9 398.1 415.1 365.2
Mill
Brook pH 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 6.6 7.1 6.9 6.8 7.5 8.0 7.0 6.8 7.1
2 6.7 7.0 6.9 6.8 7.5 7.9 7.0 6.7 7.1
3 6.7 7.0 6.9 6.8 7.4 7.6 7.0 6.7 7.0
4 6.7 6.9 6.8 6.7 7.1 7.6 7.0 6.7 6.9
5 6.8 7.0 6.9 6.8 7.1 7.6 6.8 6.6 6.9
6 6.9 6.9 6.9 6.7 7.3 7.8 6.8 6.7 7.0
7 6.8 6.9 6.9 6.7 7.3 7.5 7.0 6.7 7.0
Avg/Site 6.7 7.0 6.9 6.8 7.3 7.7 6.9 6.7 7.0
Mill
Brook Coliforms colonies/100mL 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 15 100 490 33 260 TNTC 80 no
data 163.0
2 101 710 280 33 120 TNTC 110 no
data 225.7
3 10 100 380 29 110 TNTC 10 no
data 106.5
4 5 50 620 37 90 TNTC 10 no
data 135.3
5 75 10 220 6 520 TNTC 20 no
data 141.8
6 12 0 0 0 10 1100 10 no
data 161.7
7 0 0 0 2 30 300 0 no
data 47.4
Avg/Site 31.1 138.6 284.3 20.0 162.9 700.0 34.3 140.2
Mill
Brook Phosphorous mg/L 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 0.25 0.11 0.10 0.23 0.08 0.20 0.14 0.17 0.16
2 0.16 0.10 0.11 0.13 0.07 0.18 0.14 0.13 0.13
3 0.18 0.08 0.15 0.15 0.10 0.18 0.10 0.15 0.14
4 0.18 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.12 0.20 0.14 0.15 0.14
5 0.18 0.09 0.10 0.13 0.10 0.20 0.20 0.15 0.14
6 0.14 0.07 0.11 0.13 0.10 0.11 0.13 0.15 0.12
7 0.11 0.06 0.10 0.10 0.06 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.09
Avg/Site 0.17 0.08 0.11 0.15 0.09 0.17 0.13 0.14 0.13
Mill
Brook Turbidity FTU 1996
Site#/Mo Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Avg/Yr
1 13 no
data 13 15 19 22 10 10 14.6
2 13 no
data 12 15 20 22 13 10 15.0
3 13 no
data 14 15 20 22 13 9 15.1
4 13 no
data 19 29 24 21 16 11 19.0
5 13 no
data 14 17 23 21 18 10 16.6
6 8 no
data 12 15 23 11 10 5 12.0
7 5 no
data 8 4 3 5 5 5 5.0
Avg/Site 11.1 13.1 15.7 18.9 17.7 12.1 8.6 13.9
