Issues
The State of Water Quality
An Excerpt from the State of the River 2003 Report (pdf)

Overall, water quality is the good news story of the Ipswich River and its
watershed. The river was spared some of the virulent pollution problems that have plagued other rivers, due to lack of industrialization and fairly low density development in many areas, at least until the mid-20th Century. The use of the river for water supply also led to pollution prevention measures. And in some areas where pollution did exist, such as in downtown Ipswich, pollution remediation has been very effective. Nevertheless, there are some serious pollution problems in the watershed that threaten public health and affect environmental quality. Primary among these are hazardous waste problems in a number of communities and low dissolved oxygen, which affects fish and wildlife and causes pollutants to be released into the river.

Consider these trends:

• In 1926, the economically vital shellfish beds in the Ipswich River mouth were closed due to bacterial contamination associated with human and animal waste. Those same beds, some of the most productive on the entire eastern seaboard, remained closed until 2000, when improvements in stormwater and wastewater management allowed valuable shellfish beds to open again for the first time in 74 years! Since reopening, the Ipswich River clam flats have brought millions of dollars into the local economy, and have helped save the local shellfish industry.
• However, hazardous waste has contaminated public water supply wells in Wilmington, Reading, North Reading, Peabody, Danvers, Hamilton, and Topsfield.
• In 1995, sampling by the MADEP showed that dissolved oxygen levels were well below the EPA standard at most sites in the Ipswich River. In 2001, IRWA’s volunteer monitors found dissolved oxygen levels below EPA standards at 22 out of 30 sites along the mainstem and tributaries.
• In 2001, water samples from 41% of the Ipswich basin sites exceeded the reference standard for nitrates of 0.31 mg/l set by US EPA. The percentage of failure was even higher in the upper basin, with 45 percent of sites averaging above the standard.
• In 1996, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reported that the mean mercury concentration measured in fish tested in the Ipswich River was 0.361 parts per million (ppm). The mean concentration in the species chain pickerel was 0.964 ppm. Recent investigations by USGS indicate that their Ipswich River sampling location has among the highest mercury concentrations in New England. Pregnant women are advised not to eat fish with concentrations above 0.5 ppm, while the general standard for human consumption is 1.0 ppm.

For more information on water quality of the Ipswich River, please visit Water Quality Resources.