Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Stormwater Best Management Practices Reduce the Abundance of Noxious
Aquatic Plants
WatprhnrK/ Imnrnx/pH e Presence °f an excessive number of noxious aquatic plants
VVdier uuuy n npruvuu impaired the aesthetics designated use of Massachusetts' Fuller
Brook, prompting the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to add
the waterbody to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2002.
Watershed stakeholders conducted educational outreach and implemented best management
practices (BMPs) that reduced stormwater discharges from the town of Wellesley. Conditions
improved, and the spread of noxious aquatic plants in Fuller Brook declined. As a result, DEP
removed Fuller Brook from Massachusetts' 2008 CWA section 303(d) list for noxious plant
impairment.
Problem
Fuller Brook is a 4.3-mile-long brook in the Charles
River Basin in eastern Massachusetts. The brook
flows southwest from its headwaters in Needham
through extensive wetlands before heading north
toward Wellesley Center. Fuller Brook continues
southwest through downtown Wellesley, where it
joins Waban Brook just upstream from the Charles
River. A portion of the brook has been channel-
ized, and the watershed is densely populated,
with approximately 55 percent of the development
being residential. Development in the region has
increased the amount of impervious surface,
resulting in increased volumes of stormwater runoff
entering the brook. In addition, Duck Pond, a small
impoundment in a highly developed subwatershed
of Fuller Brook, was identified as a major contribu-
tor of pathogens, nutrients and sediment to Fuller
Brook (Figure 1).
Nutrients and sediment coming from Duck Pond
likely have negative effects downstream, including
altering habitat and contributing to the growth of
noxious aquatic plants. In 1997 water quality moni-
toring documented excessive in-stream amounts
of noxious plants in the lower 0.3 mile of the brook,
impairing the aesthetics designated use of that
portion of the brook. As a result, DEP added the
4.3-mile-long Fuller Brook to the Massachusetts
CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2002.
Figure 1. Duck
Pond is in the
Fuller Brook
watershed near
the town of
Wellesley.
On the basis of the DEP assessment team's best
professional judgment, noxious aquatic plants—
mainly green algae (Spirogyra) and brown algae
(Melosira varians)—were formally added as a cause
of impairment of Fuller Brook. That portion of the
brook also did not support primary and secondary
contact recreational uses because of pathogens,
organic enrichment/low dissolved oxygen levels,
and habitat alterations.
-------
Project Highlights
Many efforts have been ongoing to reduce noxious
aquatic plants, pathogens, nutrients and sedimenta-
tion in the brook. The town of Wellesley implement-
ed multiple stormwater management techniques
with the goal of reducing nonpoint source pollu-
tion in Fuller Brook and the Charles River. In 2004
Wellesley applied for, and received funding from,
Massachusetts' CWA section 319 Nonpoint Source
Grant program to remediate Duck Pond. The town
implemented several structural and nonstructural
BMPs, including 24 deep-sump catch basins with
hoods, 5 Stormceptor units, and 30 feet of flow
distribution pipes to separate and remove pollut-
ants (e.g., sediment and nutrients) from stormwater
runoff. The stormwater structures are estimated to
reduce the annual load of sediment by 1,250 tons.
Signs discouraging the feeding of waterfowl were
also installed within the watershed (Figure 2).
Figure 2. A sign discourages people from feeding
waterfowl.
The town coupled the project with one that empha-
sized educating the public about the causes of
water pollution. Brochures and pamphlets were
developed and distributed to homeowners high-
lighting actions that they can take to lessen their
contribution to polluted stormwater runoff, includ-
ing caring for pets, maintaining automobiles and
properly disposing of household waste.
In 2007 the DEP completed a total maximum daily
load (TMDL) for pathogens in the Charles River
watershed. DEP's bacteria source-tracking team
has been working with the town of Wellesley since
then to inspect and sample storm drain outfalls in
the section of the brook that had elevated bacteria
concentrations. Wellesley also performed dye
testing of sewer siphons and targeted sampling
and dye testing in subwatersheds of two drainage
outfalls. Those efforts will help the partners identify
and remediate bacteria sources and other polluted
discharges.
Results
Visual monitoring conducted in 2006 noted a
decline in the presence of noxious plant cover-
age. On the basis of those observations and the
assessment team's best professional judgment,
DEP removed the noxious plant impairment of Fuller
Brook from the commonwealth's 2008 CWA section
303(d) list. Ongoing restoration work continues to
address Fuller Brook's other sources of impairment.
Partners and Funding
Partners responsible for stormwater management
programs, nutrient management programs and
Duck Pond's restoration consist of the town of
Wellesley, the Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), Massachusetts DEP and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
The Duck Pond project cost $123,854, with contri-
butions from Massachusetts DEP's CWA section
319 Nonpoint Control Program ($74,312) and the
town of Wellesley ($49,541). DEP also provided
staff time to help develop the TMDL, oversee the
Duck Pond restoration and assist with bacteria
source-tracking activities.
The NRCS also supported projects to improve water
quality in the Fuller Brook watershed. NRCS helped
a farmer with land along Fuller Brook to develop
a nutrient and pesticide management plan, and it
provided $1,700 through the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program to support implementing the
plan. NRCS also provided $3,500 to develop a new
irrigation system.
I
5
PR
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
. Office of Water
\ Washington, DC
EPA841-F-10-001I
April 2010
For additional information contact:
Jane Peirce
Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection
508-767-2792 • Jane.Peirce@state.ma.us
MaryJo Feuerbach
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1
617-918-1578 • Feuerbach.MaryJo@EPA.gov
------- |