SCIENCE & MONITORING

SCIENCE & MONITORING

Our Science & Monitoring programs enable us to assess the health of the Ipswich River and drive our Restoration & Resiliency work. With the help of our program volunteers and partnerships we collect data related to water quality, water conservation and barriers.

The RiverWatch Program is our volunteer water quality monitoring program. Each month, March through December, volunteers collect data on weather conditions, recent rainfall, water color, odor, clarity, temperature, velocity, depth, dissolved oxygen and conductivity. Measurements are taken at 35 sites throughout the Ipswich River watershed and beyond. Twenty one sites are on the mainstem of the Ipswich River and 9 sites are on major tributaries. Also included are sites on the Egypt River in Ipswich, Alewife Brook in Essex, the Chebacco Lake inlet in Hamilton and Walker Creek in Gloucester. Click the button above to learn more.

The annual Herring Count is conducted each spring at the Ipswich Mills Dam in downtown Ipswich. Volunteers perform 10 minute counts from the top of the fish ladder throughout the season. The purpose of the count is to calculate reliable run size estimates and document the conditions under which river herring migrate into the Ipswich River to spawn. Click the button above to learn more.

The macroinvertebrate monitoring program is an annual sampling program to measure the biological health of the Ipswich River. Benthic macroinvertebrate (bugs living on the river bottom) are good indicators of water quality. Click the button above to learn more.

The streamflow monitoring program, known as RIFLS (River Instream Flow Stewards) is a monitoring program first established and run by the Mass. Division of Ecological Restoration. Our organization has 3 RIFLS sites: 2 located in North Reading on Martins Brook and the Ipswich River and on Fish Brook in Boxford. Volunteers read staff gauges to collect important flow data.

Join the Weed Watchers Network to monitor invasive aquatic plants. Learn how to identify certain specimens and help organize efforts to monitor sites such as Hood Pond in Topsfield, Stiles Pond in Boxford and sections of the Ipswich River and others. 

Interested in volunteering for the River?

Fill out our Volunteer Inquiry Form so we can best match your interests with a program that is protecting a healthy Ipswich River.