Water Quality Monitoring

Water Quality

FRCC supports water monitoring for the upper Farmington River and tributaries through a contract with the Farmington River Watershed Association (FRWA), to cover a portion of supplies, mileage, and staff time. FRWA has been collecting data since 2004. The program’s objectives are to:

  • document high quality waters for protection and preservation;
  • measure inputs from tributaries to the Farmington River;
  • establish a database for use in documenting future changes in water quality;
  • identify impairments and locate potential preservation & restoration opportunities;
  • educate and involve residents in waterbody protection;
  • inform a cohesive understanding of the entire Farmington River watershed in CT; and,
  • reveal trends relative to changing climate and precipitation patterns via long term monitoring.

Polluted stormwater runoff (nonpoint source pollution) is the primary water quality concern in the watershed. FRWA’s data can show sites of concern, and lead to potential restoration efforts. FRWA shares all data with FRCC in an annual written report and presentation, and shares all data with CT DEEP, uploads to EPA’s Water Quality Portal, and helps educate watershed residents. FRWA follows protocols in our CT DEEP-approved Quality Assurance Project Plan. All data submitted to the CT DEEP is used to evaluate assessed waters for the Integrated Water Quality Report (IWQR) which is submitted to the EPA every two years.

Detailed information can be found in the 2025 Water Quality Report along with past reports online at frwa.org/resources

Laura Hart, Conservation Director at FRWA, in the Wild & Scenic Farmington River in New Hartford, CT.

FRWA monitors for bacteria, temperature, conductivity/chloride, nutrients, and other parameters such as turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and pH.

With this information, FRCC and FRWA will make plans to work with towns, landowners, and other interested parties to find collaborative ways to remediate the sources of pollution through green infrastructure solutions, such as rain gardens and riparian buffers.

INFORMATION

Paige Vichiola, Watershed Manager at FRWA in Cherry Brook.

Road-Stream Crossings: FRCC funds FRWA to conduct surveys of road-stream crossing (culvert) conditions within the upper watershed in order to determine structural integrity, as well as the ability of passage for aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. Road-stream crossing assessments can be useful in determining which crossings may pose a threat to public safety during storm events, and they also provide insight into the ability of aquatic organisms such as diadromous fish to move throughout the watershed. FRWA performs these assessments using the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) protocols and contributes its findings to the NAACC database. FRCC and FRWA are continuing to work with Trout Unlimited (TU)’s Program Director NY/CT and CT Project Manager and the local municipalities to address severe barriers on cold-water habitat tributaries by creating preliminary designs for culvert replacements on Ratlum Brook and its tributaries.

In 2025 FRCC, TU, FRWA, the Town of New Hartford, and CT DEEP came together to look at the issues of a failed culvert on an old Town access road, no longer used. This partnership and grant funding from FRCC gave TU and partners time to meet on site and for the Ratlum Brook Reconnection Project.

The project goal is to reconnect Ratlum Brook to the East Branch Farmington River to support native and wild trout recovery. The objectives are to develop a monitoring strategy that would effectively connect, conserve, and restore habitat quality and resiliency for trout in the Ratlum Brook watershed; collect the necessary data to identify reconnection and restoration projects that would improve stream conditions; and complete surveys and conceptual designs at two priority locations to support future fundraising and advance projects toward implementation. Final deliverables from TU included supporting FRWA with landowner and community outreach, grant proposals, and local, state, and federal permitting; preparing a data summary, subwatershed assessment, and watershed map; developing a monitoring plan and conducting one summer monitoring data collection effort; completing a watershed-wide road crossing survey with management recommendations; and producing one priority conceptual-level culvert and dam removal and restoration design with a cost estimate, including a cost comparison between culvert replacement and removal. Monitoring efforts included developing a river-specific monitoring plan and working with CT DEEP Fisheries staff to collect fish data throughout the watershed.