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Dear River and Watershed Friends,

Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program volunteers continue to produce 100% sampling at 100% of the eleven sites on the Merrimack River from Franklin to Bow and on the Pemigewasset, Winnipesaukee, and Contoocook Rivers.

Do you remember that very high count we had at Site 6 last week (they stopped counting at 2,419.6 colonies of E. coli per 100 millilitres of sample water)?  We checked the site this week and there was nothing unusual. Yesterday, it appeared to be Site 1’s turn for an abnormal reading. There were 1,299.7 colonies of E. coli. You can be sure that we will be checking that site as well.

As a reminder,  the readings shown below are the number of E. coli bacteria colonies for every 100 millilitres of water. Warm blooded animals (including humans) all have E. coli in their guts. State designated swim beaches are not allowed to exceed 88 colonies and Class B waters (all of our sites are Class B waters) should be below 406 colonies. Here are the details.

Our next sampling day is Thursday, August 10, 2017 so you will hear from us on August 11.

If you want to be part of the Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program biomonitoring efforts, please sign-in using this form. You may learn more about the program by visiting the UMMP page or by calling 603.796.2615. We’d be happy to tell you all about it.

Thank you to our wonderful Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, sample courier, site volunteers, Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, and the crew at Franklin Waste Water Treatment Plant. There would be no Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program without them.

Please visit our fresh and newly designed forum at MerrimackRiver.org/forum.
You can also find us at MerrimackRiver.org for further information or don’t hesitate to contact us at UMMP@MerrimackRiver.org or 603.796.2615 should you have any questions.

Sincerely,
                                           
Michele L Tremblay                          Stephen C. Landry
Program Manager                             Sampling Supervisor

Dear River and Watershed Friends,

Good news: We had 100% sampling at 100% of our sites yesterday.

The not-so-good news: The E. coli bacteria readings at one of our sites was high. There were suspended solids in the water taken with this sample. This result, unusual for the upper Merrimack River watershed, could be due to an excessive amount of algae. This excess could cause a multi-fold proliferation in bacterial growth. The excess of nutrients can feed bacteria and cause their populations to grow. We are looking into what happened at this site, which is an informal swimming area with a lot of use, including parties. We often see diapers; towels; articles of forgotten, castoff clothing; empty chip bags; and liquor receptacles (including the iconic red Solo plastic keg cups) at the site.

As a reminder,  the readings shown below are the number of E. coli bacteria colonies for every 100 millilitres of water. Warm blooded animals (including humans) all have E. coli in their guts. State designated swim beaches are not allowed to exceed 88 colonies and Class B waters (all of our sites are Class B waters) should be below 406 colonies. Here are the details.

*Laboratory replicate

Our next sampling day is Thursday, July 27, 2017 so you will hear from us on July 28. It will be interesting to see if Site 6 settles down and what data insights the other sites will reveal.

Thank you to our wonderful Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, sample courier, site volunteers, Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, and the crew at Franklin Waste Water Treatment Plant. There would be no Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program without them.

Please visit our fresh and newly designed forum at MerrimackRiver.org/forum.
You can also find us at MerrimackRiver.org for further information or don’t hesitate to contact us at UMMP@MerrimackRiver.org or 603.796.2615 should you have any questions.

Sincerely,
                                           
Michele L Tremblay                          Stephen C. Landry
Program Manager                             Sampling Supervisor