Staff from the Cape Cod National Seashore, National Park Service (CACO NPS) began limited water-quality data collection in the Herring River Estuary as early as 1984. In 2006 a monthly sampling program was established for 14 sites to monitor nutrient concentrations, dissolved oxygen, and other constituents. This monitoring program is ongoing and has been supplemented with data from other CACO NPS projects and cooperative monitoring with the U.S. Geological Survey. With the anticipated restoration of the estuary, which has been diked off from the ocean for over 100 years, these data are critical in supporting the characterization of pre-restoration water quality. The data collected in the estuary from 1984-2017 have not been published and disseminated in one place to date. This data release is intended to address this issue and create a framework in which future data can be published. In preparation for publication, the data were compiled from several CACO NPS internal sources and were reviewed using very preliminary quality checks. The related USGS water-quality data are available in the National Water Information System (NWIS).

The Herring River estuary (Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts) has been tidally restricted for over a century by a dike constructed near the mouth of the river. Behind the dike, the tidal restriction has caused the conversion of salt marsh wetlands to various other ecosystems including impounded freshwater marshes, flooded shrub land, drained forested upland, and wetlands dominated by Phragmites australis. This estuary is now managed by the National Park Service, which has plans to replace the dike and restore tidal flow to the estuary. To assist National Park Service land managers with restoration planning, study collaborators have been investigating differences in soil properties, carbon accumulation, and greenhouse gas fluxes across differing ecosystems within the Herring River Estuary. The U.S. Geological Survey collected continuous monitoring data (including water level, soil temperature, air temperature, and meteorological parameters). These datasets can help evaluate key ecosystem drivers to make predictions about potential changes as restoration commences.

The Herring River estuary (Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts) has been tidally restricted for over a century by a dike constructed near the mouth of the river. Behind the dike, the tidal restriction has caused the conversion of salt marsh wetlands to various other ecosystems including impounded freshwater marshes, flooded shrub land, drained forested upland, and wetlands dominated by Phragmites australis. This estuary is now managed by the National Park Service, which has plans to replace the dike and restore tidal flow to the estuary. To assist National Park Service land managers with restoration planning, study collaborators have been investigating differences in soil properties, carbon accumulation, and greenhouse gas fluxes across differing ecosystems within the Herring River Estuary. The U.S. Geological Survey collected continuous monitoring data (including water level, soil temperature, air temperature, and meteorological parameters). These datasets can help evaluate key ecosystem drivers to make predictions about potential changes as restoration commences.

Restoration in the tidally restricted Herring River Estuary in Wellfleet, MA benefits from understanding pre-restoration sediment transport conditions. Submerged sensors were deployed at four sites landward and seaward of the Herring River restriction to measure water velocity, water quality, water level, waves, and seabed elevation. These data will be used to evaluate sediment dynamics and geomorphic change and inform marsh modeling efforts over tidal and seasonal timescales.

Restoration in the tidally restricted Herring River Estuary in Wellfleet, MA benefits from understanding pre-restoration sediment transport conditions. Submerged sensors were deployed at four sites landward and seaward of the Herring River restriction to measure water velocity, water quality, water level, waves, and seabed elevation. These data will be used to evaluate sediment dynamics and geomorphic change and inform marsh modeling efforts over tidal and seasonal timescales.

Environmental parameters affecting plant productivity and microbial respiration, such as water level, salinity, and groundwater temperature included in these datasets, are key components of wetland carbon cycling, carbon storage, and capacity to maintain elevation. Data were collected to (1) provide background data to evaluate potential differences in water level and carbon flux between wetland sites with differing elevation and tidal inundation and (2) facilitate applications of Blue Carbon projects in coastal wetlands. Associated child pages include continuous water level, salinity, and temperature from shallow wells installed in coastal wetland sites on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These datasets are grouped by the project they support or by study site. Project study sites include salt marshes with natural tidal flow, salt marshes that were previously tidally restricted and have been restored, impounded coastal wetlands with restricted tidal flow inclusive of various vegetation types, and Phragmites dominated areas fringing natural salt marshes.

Environmental parameters affecting plant productivity and microbial respiration, such as water level, salinity, and groundwater temperature included in these datasets, are key components of wetland carbon cycling, carbon storage, and capacity to maintain elevation. Data were collected to (1) provide background data to evaluate potential differences in water level and carbon flux between wetland sites with differing elevation and tidal inundation and (2) facilitate applications of Blue Carbon projects in coastal wetlands. Associated child pages include continuous water level, salinity, and temperature from shallow wells installed in coastal wetland sites on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These datasets are grouped by the project they support or by study site. Project study sites include salt marshes with natural tidal flow, salt marshes that were previously tidally restricted and have been restored, impounded coastal wetlands with restricted tidal flow inclusive of various vegetation types, and Phragmites dominated areas fringing natural salt marshes.

As part of the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network's Estuarine Nutrient Enrichment Monitoring program, Network staff continued to estuarine water quality at several park units. This file contains spatial (i.e., not continuous) water quality data collected during the 2019 field season at Cape Cod National Seashore.

As part of the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network's Estuarine Nutrient Enrichment Monitoring program, Network staff continued to estuarine water quality at several park units. This file contains spatial (i.e., not continuous) water quality data collected during the 2019 field season at Cape Cod National Seashore.

Management efforts of the tidally-restricted Herring River in Wellfleet, MA include research to understand pre-restoration sediment conditions. Submerged multiparameter sondes that measure optical turbidity were deployed at one site landward and three sites seaward of the Herring River restriction. Periodically, the sites were visited and additional turbidity measurements were collected with a handheld multiparameter sonde, and water samples were collected for determination of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC). The handheld turbidity measurements were regressed against SSC using a repeated median regression to determine a calibration curve for calibrating the turbidity time-series data to SSC. The SSC derived from the turbidity time-series measurements can then be used to estimate the sediment budget and sediment availability after removal of the tidal restriction. The data collected with the handheld multiparameter sonde are presented here.