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Week 10: July 19

Woooo, happy mid-season! We are officially halfway done with CWQT 2024. This season the CWQT program is covering up to 92 sites each week, that's about 40 gallons of samples per week.
This week Central Park received 3.17 inches of rain, which makes Week 10 the wettest week of the season so far. That said, almost all of our sample sites are unsafe for primary contact this weekend.
Huge thanks to everyone who has participated with us this season. Let’s keep collecting those samples and finish off strong with even more data!

View the Week 1o Data

NYC Water News & Events:

As COVID-19 transmission starts to increase again, we are beginning to see an increased concentration of COVID in NYS wastewater. Check out the data dashboard on Gothamist here.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made a splash by swimming in the Seine River on July 17, 2024! This symbolic swim showcased the progress in cleaning the Seine, ensuring it's ready for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Read more here: The New York Times
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) are installing seven miles of porous pavement along Brooklyn roadways to combat flooding and improve the health of New York Harbor. This initiative will help keep 35 million gallons of stormwater out of the sewer system annually. This initiative aims to protect residents during storms and support a climate-resilient future for NYC! To learn more: nyc.gov
Dirty Protest? Learn more about how this petition is trying to keep sewage out of our ocean by using actual sewage ink to sign it. Watch the video here and to find out more click here.

Weekly Slideshow:

Some great shots from Gus at Apollo St, East Branch and English Kills from Peter, and Little Neck Bay from Mary.

Week 9: July 12

This week the National Weather Service issued a ‘flood watch’ for New York City due to expected heavy rain Friday night into Saturday morning. These flood watches often correlate with Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) events because of the stormwater which overloads the system leading to flooding and CSO discharges.
As of Thursday evening, Central Park had received .26 inches of rainfall this week, leaving 40% of our reporting sites unsafe for primary contact— this number will likely grow as the forecasted rain hits our area.

View the Results

NYC Water News & Events:

Reminder this Saturday is the 17th City of Water Day! Check out the map to find an event near you.
Our Friends at Newtown Creek Alliance are hosting their 8th annual Kingsland Wildflowers Festival on July 27. Register here for an afternoon of fun and engaging ecological activities.
Interested in photography and creating an equitable future for NY’s waterways? Check out the Photo Urbanism Fellowship opportunity from the Design Trust for Public Space. Applications are due August 11, 2024. For more information on how to apply click here.
The Department of Environmental Conservation is hosting a second public meeting, to gather public input for the Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards (WQS), on July 16, 2024. The review will help the department integrate the best practices to protect our waters. RSVP here and to find out more information on public meetings click here. These meetings are held because in the Clean Water Act it requires states to do a review every three years that will help with water quality standards, classifications, and policies.
Interested in making the City's infrastructure more Green. Bills S6409A and A6901 were passed extending the Green Roof Tax Abatement. This program incentivizes the creation of green roofs by increasing the abatement and decreasing the allowable depth. Increased incentivization for green roofs will help to make stormwater absorption more achievable for developers.

Weekly Slideshow:

Hard hats and all we had some happy faces on the CWQT Mid-Season Field trip to the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Center and Kingsland Wildflower! Be on the lookout for next season’s field trip.

Picturesque shots from sampler Erica at Dumbo Cove along the East River, sampler Kristina from Gantry State Park, and sampler Mary from Little Neck Bay. Thanks y’all!

Sampler Peter shares some special snapshots of samples and nearby mullein for our plant lovers.

Billion Oyster Project team dropping off samples with all our new summer interns!

Week 8: June 28

From a severe thunderstorm Wednesday to a waterbody advisory alert Thursday morning the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued waterbody advisories for 28 of the 45 waterways in NYC. With a range of peak intensity rainfall per hour from 0.19 to 0.77 inches and total rainfall ranges from 0.21 to 0.91 inches, all the rain this week caused almost all of our CWQT sample sites to test with high enterococcus bacteria levels making the harbor unsafe for primary contact activities.

View Results

NYC Water News & Events:

Love open water swimming, and want to bring attention to water quality in NY Harbor? Join Urban Swim and Billion Oyster Project’s CWQT Lab for a 2-mile circumnavigation of Governors Island on City of Water Day, July 13, 2024! Sign up and find out more info here.
Not a swimmer? Be sure to check out all of this year’s events on the City of Water Day map.
Stay in the know about Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)! Use the DEC’s HAB map to find active freshwater HABs in NY state. Find more information on how to use the map on DEC’s HABs notification webpage.
In a landmark environmental effort, NYC Parks and DEP have secured land in the Bronx for a groundbreaking project: “daylighting” Tibbetts Brook. By redirecting the brook above ground, this $11.2 million initiative aims to cut sewer overflows, enhance the Harlem River’s health and create new parkland and trails for local residents. Scheduled for construction starting late 2025, it marks a significant step toward greener, more resilient urban infrastructure. See the full press release here.
Love the Rockaways? Experience emergentSEAS, a display of five-years of socially conscious art from Far Rockaway, with a focus on climate justice and interspecies cooperation. Created by Buena Onda Collective, you can see the exhibition until July 7, 2024 at the Flushing Town Hall. Get directions and see the event schedule here.

Weekly Slideshow:

Snapshots from our dedicated community science volunteers at Newtown Creek Alliance.

From left to right: Our friends from the Midtown West Team collecting samples from Hudson River, Pier 84, and some extra helping hands at the Williamsburg lab from Erica and Research Associate Technician Rayven.

New sampler Luke shares photo of Living Breakwater from the Conference House Park site in Staten Island.

Week 7: June 21

This week brought us air quality health advisories, and heat advisories, but no waterbody advisories! Another relativity dry week leaves only about 30% of our reported sites unsafe for primary contact this week. With scattered rainfall in the forecast for the weekend and heat advisories still in effect, check the weather before you head out.
New this week: data from our partner lab at SUNY Maritime College, reporting enterococcus data from the East River and Hammond Creek as part of CWQT for the first time since 2021. Welcome back!

View the week 7 data

NYC Water News & Events:

How can NYC safely and equitably adapt to life with more rain? Join Rebuild by Design and the Rainproof Working Groups on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at John Jay College (West 59th Street between 10th and 11th Ave.) from 9:30am to 5pm for a full day of recommendations for dealing with extreme rainfall in NYC. RSVP and view the full program here.
Looking for a fun photo op? Visit Union Square to see giant NYC Sewer manhole cover, complete with an alligator on one side. A supposed call back to the mythical 8-foot Alligator found in the East Harlem sewer, artist Alexander Klingspor, recreates the legend and keeps the mystery alive for generations. Learn more at the official NYC Parks website.
News from across the Atlantic— Residents of Paris threaten to defecate in their local river in order to fight against Olympic spending. As Paris prepares the Seine river for use in swimming events during the 2024 Olympic Games, residents are not happy about the costs of cleaning the river, which is typically not open for swimming due to regular sewage pollution during wet weather events. Read more on Forbes.

Weekly Slideshow:

Sampler Peter notes the East Branch of Newtown Creek has been very green the past few weeks.

Distracted by the giant inflatable dragon atop the Empire State Building, sampler Kristina, did not check the knot on her bucket while sampling Gantry State Park. Goodbye little orange bucket, seen floating away in the above photo, and sorry to the East River!

Gus, from Newtown Creek Alliance, samples Apollo Street and English Kills. Can we get a species ID on these fish— Killifish perhaps?

More sampler sights from Week 7— Cyrus, from Billion Oyster Project team, samples by boat in Bushwick Inlet; Tucker photographs the sign for CSO BB-043 under the Pulaski Bridge along Newtown Creek; and Mary sends a photo from Bayside Marina, Little Neck Bay in Queens.

Week 6: June 14

This week is the first week of the 2024 CWQT season with no measurable rainfall in Central Park! About 50% of reporting sites had bacteria levels safe for primary contact activities like swimming this week— a new high for this season, with previous high at about 40% during Week 3. With rain forecasted throughout the weekend, these numbers likely won’t last long.
This week our partner labs and community scientists have collected data from new sites including East River Esplanade +Pool site, Arthur Kill, Conference House Park in Staten Island, and Gravesend Bay, CSO OH-015.

View the Results

Weekly Slideshow:

CWQT sampler Dawn smelt petroleum fumes before even arriving at her Pier 84 sample site. When you see evidence of a spill call the DEC hotline as soon as possible at 1-800-457-7362, and fill out a Riverkeeper report online.

Views from new CWQT sample site ‘CSO OH-015’ along the Belt Parkway and Gravesend Bay in the Bath Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, sampled by Julian. From left to right: a view of this large Tier 1 CSO nearly covered by the tide; the iconic CSO caution sign found along NYC’s coastline; and small dead sharks caught in the riprap.

Billion Oyster Project Research Associate Technician Cyrus samples S5th Street by pole at the south end of Domino Park. Check out CSO NC-012 in the background.

Week 5: June 7

Another rainy Thursday— rain falling Wednesday night into Thursday morning triggered the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue waterbody advisories for 31 of the 45 waterways in NYC. While more waterbodies were under advisory than last Thursday, overall this week’s water quality was roughly the same. About 82.61% of all reporting sites had enterococcus levels unsafe for primary contact, compared to last week’s 83.75%. Use caution when recreating this weekend, and Happy World Oceans Week!

View the week 5 data

NYC Water News & Events:

An article from Gothamist titled ‘What would it take to make NYC's waterways safe for swimming?,’ dives into the details about the cost of modernizing NYC’s antiquated sewer system.
Do you have a project to improve water quality in Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, or Lower Bay? When you crowdfund with the Clean Bay Match Program on IOBY, up to $3,000 in donations will be doubled! See more information here.
The Beginning of Swim Season at the End of the World— join artist Nora Almeida for a participatory archival activation about swimming, flooding, and water relationships. Come by to learn about water experiences and practices, urban swimming, and coastal ecology, or share your own water stories, feelings, fears, and memories. Find dates, locations, and more information here.
Don’t miss the opening reception of ‘Water Stories,’ at BioBAT Art Space on June 8 from 5 to 8PM. Inspired by work done by CWQT Partner Lab Interstate Environmental Commission (IEC), ‘Water Stories’ highlights local and global narratives of our waterfronts and waterbodies, inviting you on a reflective journey that underscores the critical importance of water in our lives. Read more here.
Join SWIM Coalition, NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program (HEP), and Pratt Institute’s Master of Science in Sustainable Environmental Systems department for two engagement sessions in June to understand how NYC can move toward fishable swimmable waterways while centering accessibility and equity. RSVP to a session here.

Weekly Slideshow:

Flushing Bay’s 28th Avenue street end, aka Big Rock Beach, in College Point is always full of whimsy. Photos by Paola.

Apollo Street sampled by Newtown Creek Alliance’s Greenspace Steward, Gus. Anyone guesses as to what flows out of these pipes?

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Bring your partner to work day! Billion Oyster Project’s Lab Technician, Joanna, gets a helping hand from her partner Sam.

Week 4: May 31

On Thursday morning the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued waterbody advisories for 26 of the 45 waterways in NYC. Over a 24 hour period, these parts of NYC experienced a peak rainfall intensity of .20 to .27 inches per hour, with total rainfall ranging from .32 to .80 inches. As expected, after 1.79 inches of rain in Central Park this week, over 75% of our CWQT sample sites are testing unsafe for primary contact activities.
Stay up to date with NYC DEP waterbody advisories by checking this page, or signing up for alerts from NotifyNYC.

View the week 4 results

NYC Water News & Events:

Want to get up close and personal with live oysters in the East River? Join Billion Oyster Project, North Brooklyn Community Boathouse, and Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park for oyster monitoring on June 1, from 11AM to 1PM. RSVP here.
Our friends Newtown Creek Alliance, Riverkeeper, FloodNet, and the Harbor Estuary Program are teaming up for an evening of participatory activities and presentations at the Queens Landing Boathouse. RSVP to ‘Water Connectors’ on June 5, from 6:30 to 8:30PM.
The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is sailing around town this month! Clearwater will be offering public sails, and collaborating on environmental programming in NY Harbor throughout the month of June. Find the schedule here.

Weekly Slideshow:

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Lee’s update from the Coney Island Creek, Kaiser Park sample site— a lot of Fiddler Crabs this week!

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East River samples dropped off by boat with Joanna, Zeke, and Cody from the Billion Oyster Project team at Domino Park in Williamsburg

Week 3: May 24

The Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued in NYC for 10AM on Thursday resulted in .78 inches of rainfall in Central Park, however many of our samplers got out before the storm! Only about 36% of reporting sample sites were unsafe for primary contact this week— please check sample times to determine if bacteria counts are reflective of sewage overflow from Thursday’s storm.

View the week 3 results

NYC Water News & Events

NYC Beach are back, and the lifeguard shortage continues. As the City prepares to open NYC beaches this weekend, only 230 of 1,000 lifeguards needed have been hired. Read more on Gothamist, and don’t forget to check regular enterococcus results for bathing beaches from the NYC Dept. of Health.
Celebrate World Fish Migration Day on May 25, 2024 by signing up for a fishing clinic this summer! Look out for events at CWQT sample sites like Gantry State Park, Stuy Cove Park, and Prospect Park Lake— view the full list of clinics in New York State on the Department of Environmental Conservation website.
Don’t miss the MS4 Annual Report Public Meeting! Curious about municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s)? Join DEP at 4pm on June 10, 2024 for a presentation on the Draft 2023 MS4 Annual Report. RSVP for in-person or online.

Weekly Slideshow:

🤝 Sampler hands from our Newtown Creek Alliance volunteer crew— shout out to Greg, Gina, Gus, Peter, Tucker, and Kristina! 🤝

Sampling before the storm…and heading to the lab during the storm. Katherine samples Dumbo Cove! ☔️💦

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More fun pics: Mary and Bobo sample Little Neck Bay; Fay samples by pole at N3rd Street in Williamsburg; and Pey samples Kissena Lake!

Week 2: May 17

Happy New York Water Week! Did you know the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been celebrating NY Water Week for nearly 40 years? Running from May 12 - 18, this year’s theme is ‘*water where you live*.’ Let’s celebrate with some local surface water bacteria data!
Central Park collected a total of .96 inches of rain this week, and about 50% of our reporting sites are in the red this week with enterococcus bacteria counts over 104 MPN.

View the WEEK 2 results

NYC Water News & Events

Tours in all 5 boroughs planned for this weekend as the NYC Department of Environmental Protection celebrates ‘NYC 520’, an annual celebration of New York City’s 520 miles of waterfront. See the full list of activities here.
Join City As a Living Laboratory on Sunday, May 19 at 2PM in Van Cortlandt Park for ‘the Buried Brooke Walk,’ an interactive augmented reality sound walk that traces the sonic geography of the buried Tibbetts Brook, which once flowed from Yonkers through the Bronx to the Harlem River. Read more and sign up here.
RSVP to Billion Oyster Project’s community science fair— the 4th annual Scyposium presentations and happy hour event will be hosted on Governors Island on Friday, May 31 from 2 to 6PM
Looking for Rockaway Beach enterococcus data? Check out results from 92nd and 69th Street via the Surfrider Blue Water Task Force!
CWQT founders, the NYC Water Trail Association, shared an updated ‘Shared Waters Map,’ which shows the full scope of the City’s maritime operations alongside recreational public access points and boat houses.

Weekly Slideshow:

Week 1: May 10

Welcome to Week 1 of the 13th Community Water Quality Testing season! Thank you to the countless community scientists, lab partners, and community organizations that have helped us collect over 11,800 samples since the CWQT pilot in 2011. Special shout out to this season’s 9 partner labs and 30+ samplers who brought us this weeks data.
With .52 inches of rainfall in Central Park this week, .21 of which were on Wednesday, about 70% of reporting sample sites had bacteria levels above NYC Department of Health standards for ‘swimmable’ water. With more rain on the way, these bacteria concentrations will likely rise though the weekend.

See this weeks results

NYC Water News & Events

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is starting its Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards! Public comments are open till November 4, 2024. Learn more about the proposed rule making here.
File this under ‘harbor oddities:’ a 50,000 pound 44ft long dead whale was found on the bow of cruise ship docked in Brooklyn. Read more details on Gothamist.
Join NYC H2O at Hunter College for a talk titled ‘Protecting Public Health: Monitoring Infectious Disease at Sewage Treatment Plants’ on Friday, June 7th @ 6:30pm. RSVP here.
Save the date for Hudson River Park Trust’s Submerge Marine Science Festival on May 17 and 18, 2024— don’t miss the all ages fun! See more information here.