Water

This section of the Envirothon guide covers numerous topics pertaining to water including: water chemistry, hydrological cycle, water table, aquifers, porosity, movement of groundwater, wells, watersheds, streams & rivers, flow, alterations to a watershed, eutrophication, wetlands, lakes & ponds, lake turnover & stratification, estuaries, oceans, water pollution, movement of contaminants in water, remediation and water quality management.

Useful Resources:

Check out our YouTube Channel for many relevant water videos

Wachusett Watershed Virtual Field Trip: https://youtu.be/hSUT0nDdeMk     Resource Guide for Wachusett Field Trip Video

Model Watershed: https://youtu.be/KZSUASqpYRQ     Resource Guide for Watershed Model Video

Water Quality Cheat Sheet (pdf)

Dog Waste and Surface Water Quality (pdf) – DCR

Unused & Expired Pharmaceuticals (pdf)

Aquatic Invasive Species Brochure (pdf)

Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Product (PPCP) Pollution – EPA

Pharmaceutical Circle Simplified (pdf)

Climate Change Impact on Water Resources (pdf) – EPA

How to Deliniate a Watershed – NRCS

Thermal Pollution (pdf) – Wikipedia

Watershed Delineation video

Water Science School “Water Quality” – USGS

Climate Change Likely Makes Storms Like Sandy Worse – MIT Technology Review

Lakes and Ponds Program
Lakes and Ponds Guide

Central Mass Regional Stormwater Coalition videos. Background on BMP’s and stormwater. Although they are geared towards the federal MS4 stormwater permit requirements, there is a lot of  information in them with real life examples that will help with the 2018 current issue topic as well as the water station test. Check out: Stormwater BMPs and LID, BMPs and LIDS in your community, Intro to water testing procedures and equipment, and Discussion on vegetative swales.

Central Mass Regional Stormwater Coalition did a tour of structural BMPs at Wachusett Reservoir in October 2017, assisted by Mass DCR. Part 1 below, Part 2 really soon…

Principles of Water Resources
Cech, Thomas; J. Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 2003

Dictionary Of Ecology and Environmental Science
Art, Henry New York 1994

Hands on Save Our Streams
Firehock, Karen Izaak Walton League of America, Inc; Gaithersburg, MD 1995

Basic Ground-water Hydrology
Heath, Ralph. U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 2220, 1998

Environmental Geology
Murck, Barbara & Skinner, Brian & Porter, Stephen C., John Wiley and Sons, Inc : New York 1996

Massachusetts Land and Pond Guide
Office of Water Resources, Lakes and Ponds Program, Boston, 2004
A Guide to Aquatic Plants in Massachusetts
New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, 1999

Modern Biology
Towel, Albert. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. Orlando, FL 1991

Ground Water and Surface Water: A Single Resource
Winter, Thomas & Harvey, Judson W., & Franke, O. Lehn & Alley, William M.
U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1139: Denver, Colorado, 1998.

For more information contact:
Kathryn Parent