Historical News
Water Column Clarity
Water clarity was measured at eight locations in the Providence and Seekonk River estuaries on May 26, 2021. The weather preceding the survey day was dry, with only trace rainfall recorded at TF Green over the three days prior. Overall, sites surveyed averaged 2.1 meters Secchi depth compared to 1.7 meters the week before. Most individual sites exhibited an increase in clarity from the prior week. The lowest clarity (1.3 meters) was measured at Phillipsdale Landing, while the greatest clarity (3.2 meters) was measured at Bullock Reach. A gradient of increasing clarity from north to south was observed among sites.
Water Column Clarity
Water clarity was measured at seven locations in the Providence and Seekonk River estuaries on May 19, 2021. The weather preceding the survey day was dry, with just 0.01 inches of rainfall recorded at TF Green over the three days prior. Overall, sites surveyed averaged 1.7 meters Secchi depth compared to 2.6 meters the week before. All individual sites exhibited a decrease in clarity from the prior week. The lowest clarity (1.2 meters) was measured at Phillipsdale Landing, while the greatest clarity (2.0 meters) was measured at Pomham Rocks and Edgewood Yacht Club. There was no gradient of increasing clarity from north to south this week.
Water Column Clarity
Water clarity was measured at seven locations in the Providence and Seekonk River estuaries on May 12, 2021. The weather preceding the survey day was wet, with 1.01 inches of rainfall recorded at TF Green over the three days prior. Overall, sites surveyed averaged 2.6 meters Secchi depth compared to 2.7 meters the week before. The lowest clarity (1.6 meters) was measured at Phillipsdale Landing, while the greatest clarity (3.6 meters) was measured at Pomham Rocks and Edgewood Yacht Club. There was no gradient of increasing clarity from north to south this week.
Water Column Profiles
Water column profiles were measured at six locations in the Providence and Seekonk River estuaries on May 5, 2021. Over 1 inch of rainfall was recorded at TF Green in the three days prior to the survey. Water column stratification was observed at all sites.
Salinities were lowest at Pawtuxet Cove, measuring 19.3 psu at the surface and 25.1 psu at the bottom. Salinities were greatest at Conimicut Point, ranging from 24.6 psu in surface waters to 30.3 psu in bottom waters. Surface water temperatures ranged from 10.9°C at India Point Park to 11.9°C at Pawtuxet Cove. Bottom water temperatures ranged from 9.2°C at Conimicut Point to 11.1°C at Pawtuxet Cove.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) ranged from approximately 5 mg/L in the surface waters at India Point Park to 9.5 mg/L in the upper waters of Bullock Reach. Hypoxic conditions (e.g., DO concentrations <2.9 mg/L) were not observed at any of the sites. Generally, fluorescence readings were low among all sites with no strong evidence of phytoplankton blooms. Please note that due to a quality control issue, numerical fluorescence data are not posted at this time.
Water Column Clarity
Water clarity was measured at five locations in the Providence River on May 5, 2021. The weather surrounding the survey day was wet, with 1.1 inches of rainfall recorded at TF Green over the three days prior and the day-of. Only two of the sites surveyed were visited the prior week, one exhibiting an increase and the other a decrease in clarity since that time. Overall, sites surveyed averaged 2.67 meters Secchi depth. The lowest clarity (1.8 meters) was measured at India Point Park, while the greatest clarity (3.3 meters) was measured at Bullock Reach Buoy. Overall, a gradient of increasing clarity from north to south was observed among sites.
