The Buzzards Bay Coalition, a non-profit organization based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA, uses data loggers to collect critical baseline data to inform feasibility studies and evaluate river restoration to create pathways for migratory fish.
overview
The Buzzards Bay Coalition, a for-profit organization in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is developing a feasibility study for the Weweantic restoration of the Wareham River.
In June 2012, the Union acquired a 10-acre property, across the current of the river, that contains the Horseshoe Mill Dam. Set on a major highway interchange, the nearby property is a high priority for conservation to prevent its development, provide public access to the river, and restore wildlife habitat – particularly fan-veined fish.
challenge
Built in the early 1800's, the Horseshoe Mill Dam was the first to impede fish passage on the Weweantic River, a large tributary of Buzzards Bay, where fish were productive. It is a promising and unique fan-veined fish stock in Buzzards Bay, which contains a diverse community of migratory species, including rainbow smelt and wild East Creek char in its lower tributary, Besides hostess and red herring, American eel, white bass, cod, hoghole lamprey, and possibly, herring.
Fish access is severely restricted by the Horseshoe Mill Dam. In addition, a unique degree and number of important freshwater tidal wetland flora, including a very rare species in Massachusetts, are limited by this dam.
Restoration at this site will open up more than 3 miles of riverine habitat for migratory fish, as well as allow adaptation of coastal wetland habitats to climate change. Removing the barriers caused by the dam will have profound benefits for fisheries, rare plant communities, and associated wildlife by restoring river continuity and enabling coastal wetland habitat to be protected on land above the dam to accommodate sea level rise.
For river restoration design, determining critical baseline data needs to be collected to inform feasibility studies and evaluate restoration alternatives (eg topography, bathymetry, sediment analysis, hydraulic modeling, etc.). In particular, the water level data detailed above require water storage as input to the hydrological and hydraulic modeling associated with the project. "We're trying to assess the flow of water into the impoundment," said Sara Quinta of the Union of Restoration Ecologists. "When we start modeling repair alternatives the water level data at the dam will be incorporated into the model".
solution
To track water levels, the combined team first selected a stream crossing at the impoundment as a location for continuous water level monitoring due to its proximity to the project area and the pre-existing USGS water level gauge.
Then, the team deployed Onset® U20-001-01, U20-001-Ti, U20-001-02, U20-001-02Ti, U20-001-03, U20-001-03-Ti, U20-001- 04,U20-001-04-Ti KIT-S-U20-04, KIT-D-U20-04, KIT-S-U20-01, KIT-D-U20-01, KIT-S-U20-02, KIT -D-U20-02, U20L-01, U20L-02, U20L-04 water level loggers emerge from Massachusetts to collect water temperature and pressure data every five minutes. The instrument features a sealed, non-vented design making logger deployment in rivers quicker, easier, and less maintenance-free. The logger also provides a USB-based optical interface for high-speed offloading of data collected in wet environments. The optical design also eliminates the need for mechanical connectors found in many traditional water level logging instruments.
Ready to deploy the logger, it is connected to a computer via a USB cable, and configured in minutes using the accompanying HOBOware® Pro graphing and analysis software.
The logger is first connected to a tree in the project area and takes barometric pressure readings from nearby sites. Once the air pressure between the two stations was deemed to be similar, loggers were installed in the channel on the bridge supported on PVC settlement columns, continuously measuring the water level every five minutes.
"The five-minute sampling rate is based on guidance provided by Massachusetts Ecological Restoration, based on monitoring what they've done at other sites," said Quintan.
Water level data is downloaded regularly using the waterproof data base BASE-U-4 amount U-DTW-1. Provided for secure transmission of the data to the logger's PC, data can be viewed and analyzed using HOBOware software. The software displays level gauges in the form of graphs showing profiles over time, and quintals can be checked for water level gauge readings at the site. Data can be taken from tabular form, or exported to a spreadsheet for further manipulation.
The feasibility study is still in process and more baseline data will be needed to inform the assessment line's options for ecological restoration of the Horseshoe Mill dam site.
