Phillipsdale Landing
This week at Phillipsdale, water quality was fair. Salinity ranged from 7.5 psu to 24.0 psu at the surface, averaging approximately 17.0 psu. At the bottom, salinity fluctuated with tides, ranging from 13.3 psu to 28.4 psu and averaging 22.9 psu. Surface and bottom temperatures continued to increase this week. Surface temperatures ranged from 20.2^oC to 27.4^oC and averaged 23.2^oC. Bottom temperatures averaged 21.4^oC, ranging from 18.1^oC to 26.3^oC. Dissolved oxygen (DO) in surface waters ranged from 3.6 mg/L to 17.7 mg/L, averaging 9.1 mg/L. Hypoxic conditions (DO < 2.9 mg/L) in bottom waters were observed intermittently throughout the week; minimum recorded DO was 2.0 mg/L. Bottom water DO averaged 5.1 mg/L, an improvement over the previous week. Surface and bottom waters exhibited a decreasing trend in chlorophyll concentrations throughout the week, with elevated concentrations (>100 mg/L) observed towards the beginning of the week. Chlorophyll averaged 40 ug/L in surface waters and 24 ug/L in bottom waters for the week. Note that tidal fluctuations and Blackstone River flow greatly influence bottom DO, temperature, and salinity at this location.

Bullock Reach
Water quality was good at all three depths at Bullock Reach this past week, despite some stratification towards the beginning of the week. Temperature continued to increase at all three depths over the course of the week; temperature averages were 22.9^oC at the surface, 21.3^oC at the mid sonde, and 18.8^oC at the bottom. The greatest difference in temperature with depth occurred around June 30th, when surface temperatures were 24^oC and bottom temperatures were around 17^oC. Surface salinity increased over the week, averaging 25.4 psu and ranging from 19.4 to 27.9 psu. Salinity at the mid sonde averaged 27.8 psu and ranged from 21.6 to 29.4 psu. The bottom sonde was relatively stable, exhibiting a slight decrease over the course of the week. At this location, salinity ranged from 27.5 to 31.4 psu and averaged 29.6 psu. The greatest difference in salinities with depth occurred towards the beginning of the week, when salinity ranged from approximately 20 psu at the surface to 30 psu at the bottom.

There were no recorded measurements of hypoxia (<2.9 mg/L dissolved oxygen [DO]) at any of the three depths over the course of the week. Surface DO averaged 8.5 mg/L with a minimum of 6.1 mg/L; the mid depth had an average of 6.3 mg/L, and a minimum of 4.1 mg/L. The bottom sonde had an average DO of 4.3 mg/L and a minimum of 3.2 mg/L. Highest surface DO and lowest bottom DO values were observed at the beginning of the week. Highest surface DO coincided with a peak in surface chlorophyll of approximately 50 ug/L on June 30th. Surface chlorophyll averaged 11.4 ug/L over the deployment period, with a minimum value of 2.3 ug/L. Chlorophyll at the mid sonde averaged 8.4 ug/L and chlorophyll at the bottom sonde averaged 7.5 ug/L.