MWRA

This joint project, funded by the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass) and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), is aiming at a better understanding of seasonal variation of the water quality and ecosystem in Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays, especially the impact of discharges on them. The project will update, maintain, and run the three-dimensional Massachusetts Bay hydrodynamic model and Water Quality model, and analyze modeling results together with results from monitoring projects for a better understanding of environmental conditions caused by nutrient loading. The results from this study will support decisions about the need for nutrient limits and the appropriate level of any such limits on discharge into the Bays.  

The purpose of this Cooperative Research Agreement between the MWRA and UMass is to maintain, enhance and apply the existing Massachusetts Bay Hydrodynamic Model and Water Quality Model (both models together are referred to as the Model) through a long-term cooperative effort. UMass agrees to develop the capacity to run the Model, to provide model runs to MWRA in order for it to meet its obligations under its NDPES permit, and to enhance the model by incorporating advances in modeling techniques and oceanographic understanding.