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Measuring Sea-Level Rise
Monitoring Impact on Tidal Marshes Late last fall, 3 NEIWPCC researchers at the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve finished installing 6 surface elevation tables to measure changes in Piermont Marsh, the Hudson’s largest brackish tidal marsh. These instruments monitor sediment accretion rates (the annual build-up of sediment) by measuring the elevation of the marsh…
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All About Soil
October 16 marked the last day of NEIWPCC’s most recent eight-session soil evaluator certification course, which trains engineers, designers, local Boards of Health members, and others to make decisions regarding onsite septic systems in accordance with Title 5 of Massachusetts law. A major consideration when installing a septic system is how well the soil at…
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Plastic Trash Targeted
Long Island Sound Study Campaign “Protect our wildlife: break the single-use plastic habit.” That was the rallying cry for a plastic trash reduction campaign that engaged thousands of people in New York and Connecticut this summer. NEIWPCC staff members and others at the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) delivered the message, primarily through social media.…
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Stream Crossings, Flooding, Get Grants, Design
Rushing water overtopping bridges and culverts threatens not only property and wildlife habitats, but also public safety. More than 1,900 publicly owned road stream crossings in the Hudson River estuary watershed are too small to accommodate flood waters of a five-year storm. The Hudson River Estuary Program is likely to identify more undersized crossings as…
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Hydric Soils Guide Updated
Identifying wetland soils in New England just got a little easier with this published manual. It has been updated to include an additional New England-specific soil indicator. NE-A2 addresses dark muck/mucky peat. This indicator can be found under the Problem Soils section, which addresses New England-specific indicators. The other change to the guide is a…
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Nutrient Bioextraction Removes Nitrogen
Why not: use marine plants and animals, such as seaweed and shellfish, to remove nitrogen from Long Island Sound? NEIWPCC has hired its first bioextraction coordinator to explore the potential for this technique to reduce nitrogen and the adverse effects of hypoxia in the Sound while producing cash crops. These living things help prevent algae…
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50 Years of Training Excellence
This article was originally published in the April, 2018 issue of NEIWPCC’s former quarterly e-newsletter, iWR. Thirty-seven wastewater operators made history on March 11, 1968, by participating in NEIWPCC’s first wastewater training program. Fifty years and thousands of classes later, NEIWPCC continues to be a leader in providing environmental education and training throughout the Northeast.…
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Northeast Regional Floristic Quality Assessment Tool Improves Regional Comparability of Ecological Communities
Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) measures a natural area’s ecological integrity based on the variety and abundance of native and non-native plants in an area. Recent research and analysis has led to the creation of a new ecoregional classification system based on standard coefficient of conservation (C value) that will dramatically improve the comparability of FQAs…
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NEIWPCC Publishes Hydric Soils Identification Manual
Field Indicators for Identifying Hydric Soils in New England, Version 4, written by the New England Hydric Soils Technical Committee, reflects conditions specific to New England. The manual, published by NEIWPCC, contains all applicable national indicators, plus those found in the region not addressed by the Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland 5…
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Filling ‘Key Observational Gap’ on the Hudson
The National Water Level Observation Network gained data from the Hudson River last October. That’s when the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) added the Turkey Point Tide Station to its national network. The station provides near-real-time reporting of water and meteorological conditions. NEIWPCC staff member Christopher Mitchell, other NEIWPCC staff members, and others at…