Water Quality is Getting Worse as July Wears On
Water quality as measured by dissolved oxygen got worse last week throughout the parts of Long Island Sound between Westchester and Nassau, as well as in pockets of water in Smithtown Bay and off Bridgeport. Almost five per cent of the Sound – 60 square miles of water – had dissolved oxygen levels below 3 milligrams per liter.
Connecticut DEP distributed its water quality maps this morning and they clearly show a deterioration from earlier in the month. The first map is based on samples taken between July 18 and 21. The second is based on samples taken between July 7 and 12. The red area in the far west of the Sound was where DO concentrations were between 1 and 1.99 milligrams per liter; the orange area was between 2 and 2.99 milligrams per liter, and the yellow between 3 and 3.49.
The unfortunate thing is that this is fairly typical – hypoxia is still a severe problem in the Sound. Here’s a post from a couple of weeks ago that explains why.
Connecticut DEP distributed its water quality maps this morning and they clearly show a deterioration from earlier in the month. The first map is based on samples taken between July 18 and 21. The second is based on samples taken between July 7 and 12. The red area in the far west of the Sound was where DO concentrations were between 1 and 1.99 milligrams per liter; the orange area was between 2 and 2.99 milligrams per liter, and the yellow between 3 and 3.49.
The unfortunate thing is that this is fairly typical – hypoxia is still a severe problem in the Sound. Here’s a post from a couple of weeks ago that explains why.
posted by Tom Andersen at 12:05 PM
1 Comments:
According to the Conn DEP maps last week's DO conditions were the worst for late July since 2002. August 2002 was particularly bad. Last week's results do not augur well for the rest of the summer.
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