Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR): Wachusetts Reservoir Sampling Program, 1998-2013

The Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of Water Supply Protection Office of Watsershed Management (DCR/DWSP) was established by Chapter 372 of the Acts of 1984. The Division was created to manage and maintain a system of watersheds and reservoirs and provide pure water to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), which in turn supplies drinking water to approximately 2.5 million people in fifty-one communities and thousands of industrial users. The Surface Water Treatment Rule requires filtration of all surface water supplies unless several criteria are met, including development and implementation of a detailed watershed protection plan. The Division and the MWRA have a joint waiver from the filtration requirement and continue to aggressively manage the watershed in order to maintain this waiver. Water quality sampling and field inspections help identify tributaries with water quality problems, aid in the implementation of the most recent watershed protection plan, and ensure compliance with state and federal water quality criteria for public drinking water supply sources. Division staff also sample to better understand the responses of the reservoir and its tributaries to a variety of physical, chemical, and biological inputs, and to assess the ecological health of the reservoir and the watershed. Wachusett Environmental Quality staff collected routine water quality samples from 23 stations on 19 tributaries and from three stations on the Wachusett Reservoir in 2012. Additional stations were sampled to support special studies or potential enforcement actions, and storm events were sampled on twelve separate occasions.